Sermon # 31 - The Purpose Of The Church Series

As we continue our study on the church, for today’s meditation we will study this portion of scripture found in the Gospel of Luke chapter 10.

We read in Luke 10:30-35, “To answer this question, Jesus said, “A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Some robbers surrounded him, tore off his clothes, and beat him. Then they left him lying there on the ground almost dead. 31 “It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he did not stop to help him. He walked away. 32 Next, a Levite came near. He saw the hurt man, but he went around him. He would not stop to help him either. He just walked away. “Then a Samaritan man traveled down that road. He came to the place where the hurt man was lying. He saw the man and felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him and poured olive oil and wine on his wounds. Then he covered the man’s wounds with cloth. The Samaritan had a donkey. He put the hurt man on his donkey, and he took him to an inn. There he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan took out two silver coins and gave them to the man who worked at the inn. He said, ‘Take care of this hurt man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’” (ERV)

When Jesus taught, while here on earth, He oftentimes used parables. A parable would appear to be a simple story from a worldly point of view, but in reality it conveyed a deep spiritual truth. While many heard these parables as mere stories and moved on, the disciples of Jesus who followed Him closely, were taught the deeper meaning of these parables. I hope that as we study the above mentioned parable that Jesus taught, that we will be able to discover some valuable truths from the same.

The question that was asked

This was the question that was asked by a teacher of the law to Jesus as recorded in Luke 10:29, “But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"”(GNB)

Most of the religious leaders who followed Jesus asked questions just to test Him, and this was the response that Jesus gave as we read in Luke 10:30, “Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” (ESV)

There is no mention of who this man was, his background or qualifications, but there is just reference to one man. This one man is therefore a representation of all of mankind.

We read that this man left Jerusalem, the place where the temple of God was, and went to the city of Jericho. As he journeyed from Jerusalem to Jericho, certain events transpired in his life. Every time we walk away from the presence of God to do our own things, we will be challenged with certain setbacks and difficulties.

The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho they say was approximately 30 Kilometers, but the way was very steep with a difference in altitude of almost 1000 meters as travelers descended to Jericho. Also this was a dangerous road that this man chose to travel on.

Oftentimes, we venture out on a path that we know is not good for us, but we still choose to go ahead because of various circumstances. We should therefore not be surprised if we are faced with troublesome situations along the way. Every time we deliberately walk away from God’s protective presence, we should not then blame anyone for the calamities we encounter. Adam and Eve were enjoying the presence of God in the Garden of Eden, but when they decided to disobey the command of God, they had to face so many serious consequences.

The plight of the man

As the man journeyed down this dangerous road, he fell among robbers. The only goal of these bandits was to confiscate all the good things that this man had in his possession. We read in John 10:10, “The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life - life in all its fullness.” (GNB)

God created Adam in His own image, He gave Adam the freedom to make choices, and to have authority to rule over all that God had made. However, when man chose to rebel against God and do His own thing, Satan took over that authority that duly belonged to man.

• He was stripped

The first thing that happened to this man was that he was stripped of all his clothing. Our clothes are in a way an identity of who we are, and by disrobing this man, the robbers left him without any identity as to who he really was.