Parables From Luke: The Good Samaritan

We find the parable of the Good Samaritan here in Luke 10:25-37. Some background information will be helpful.

JERICHO ROAD was a notoriously dangerous road. Over a 17-mile stretch the road drops nearly 3,300 feet. There were narrow passes at points, so there were numerous places where bandits could hide out and terrorize travelers.

PRIESTS AND LEVITES were the religious leaders who, nevertheless, failed to stop and render aid.

SAMARITANS would have been thought of as highly unlikely heroes. They were regarded by the Jews as an unclean people - descendants of intermarriage from the time when the Assyrians settled in the fallen "northern kingdom" of Israel.

THE LAWYER is not really identified - but his questioning is described as a "test" of Jesus. Although his efforts might have been cynical in nature, he nevertheless gives a pretty good answer to his own question about what must be done to receive eternal life - namely, to love God with heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

At this site you can find links to many artistic depictions of the Good Samaritan across the generations.

Explore this parable in depth at this "New Media Bible" site.

We talked Sunday about four different ways Christians have chosen to put the message of this parable into practice, in terms of how we relate to individuals in need:

1 - "I'll help anybody who asks for it, without judging their motivation."

2 - "I never hand out money, but I will give to charities so that I know the money doesn't go for the wrong thing."

3 - "I will work for a just society, through legislative and other means, doing everything possible to prevent these situations from occurring."

4 - "I will carry a $20 bill in my pocket every week, and ask God to show me an appropriate way to use it to bless someone."

We talked about how option #4 can be even more exciting when done anonymously - where the individual does not know where the money came from!

Steve Bell writes, concerning this approach: "When specific personal needs are met in unpredictable ways, such events are always spiritually significant - not just for the recipient, but for the benefactor as well...You and I have within our grasp the opportunity to encourage fellow believers to experience God's participation in their lives...How? By ministering to them in secret...doing anonymous acts of kindness."

Sunday we also talked about the two "inappropriate responses" -

1 - "It's not my problem."

2 - "Charity begins at home" (which frequently ends up meaning that charity ends at home).

Finally - what would it mean to be a "Good Samaritan" congregation?

In what ways do today's churches sometimes resemble the priest and the Levite, going about our "religious business" while leaving others on the side of the road?

In what ways do today's churches resemble the innkeeper, being good stewards of the charity of others?

In what ways do today's churches resemble the lawyer, craftily asking how much - or how little - I can do and still be justified?

And in what ways do today's churches resemble the Samaritan, simply finding a need and filling it?