The Parable Of The Good Samaritan: The Gospel Hidden In Plain Sight Series

Has someone ever helped you at just the right moment? I remember many years ago, I was in my early twenties, hanging out with some of my friends. And this drug dealer who had infiltrated my group of friends, found out I was hanging out with them. He didn’t like me. So he sent over a guy to beat me up. And I just kind of laughed it off. But my friends kept telling me I should leave before the guy got there. But pretty soon I realized, I shouldn’t stay because this guy is crazy enough to send someone to beat me up. So my friend Aaron and I went out to his car. But his car wouldn’t start. So we were stuck there. I didn’t know what to do. But at the last minute, an old guy with his daughter in a car pulled up and asked me if I needed a ride. Where on Earth did that come from? I have no idea to this day. But they gave me a ride home. And I asked them, are you angels? They said no.

But in any case, what about you? Have you ever had someone help you at just the right moment?

What about vice versa. Have you ever met someone in desperate need and helped them? That is a beautiful, godly thing to do. I think we can sense it when that moment comes, and hopefully we jump into action.

So today, here we come to one of most well known scriptures in the entire Bible, many non-Christians and even people of other faiths are aware of the classic parable of the good Samaritan.

But before we get into the parable, let’s take a look at the context. Jesus is spending time with his disciples, when a teacher of the law approaches him.

From Luke’s gospel, chapter 10:25-29 “25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

This is the context in which we find our parable today. This guy asks the point blank question all of us wonder in our own lives: Just what do I need to do to receive eternal life? That is really the most important question any of us could ask.

What we might expect Jesus to say is, “Believe in me, I’m the savior you need.” But instead Jesus asks him a question. What’s in the law? And the man answers, giving the two great commands, love God, and love others. Those are indeed vital. They are the two great commands of the new testament. Love God, love others.

Are you living out the two great commands? That’s our first question to ponder today: Am I loving God? Am I loving people?

So then we see the response of Jesus to the man, as he tells a powerful parable. Let’s take a look, in Luke 10, verses 30-37:

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, uh oh, that’s a dangerous road to go down. There are certain parts of any city you wouldn’t want to be walking around at night, but two thousand years ago, many roads were very dangerous 24/7. In fact, Martin Luther King Jr. once traveled in Jerusalem along this very road in his car, and later he made this comment about it: “I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, "I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable." It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're about 2200 feet below sea level. That's a dangerous road.”