Luke 9 - 10

The Good Samaritan

Note: This is Thursday's reading. For this commentary I am using the King James Version Bible.

Luke 10:30-35

A certain [man] went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded [him], and departed, leaving [him] half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked [on him], and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion [on him], And went to [him], and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave [them] to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. (KJV).

Setting

The setting for this parable (found only in Luke’s Gospel) is after the Seventy returned to report to Jesus their joy that “even the devils are subject unto us through thy name”, Luke 10:17b. Jesus reaffirms that He gave them power, but that their joy should be “because you names are written in heaven”, Luke 10:20b. Jesus then rejoices (see verses 21 and 22) then says to the disciples (I am assuming this is the Seventy and not the Twelve) privately in verses 23 and 24 how blessed they are to understand and participate in the things they have witnessed.

At this point, perhaps envious of the relationship between Jesus and His disciples, a lawyer asks the Lord, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (vs. 25). According to the scriptures, the question was disingenuous. The term lawyer (nomekos) means one who studies and teaches the Mosaic Law, so his ken of understanding would include the knowledge to answer his own question. Knowing this, Jesus answers his question with the question, “What does the Law say?” The lawyer replies that one must love God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind and one’s neighbor as oneself. Jesus acknowledges his answer as being correct and instructs him to do these things.

At this point in the conversation the problem arises. The lawyer asks, “Who is my neighbor?” (v. 29). This question is so typical of the intellectual believer, the Christian who is never satisfied, who has never incorporated faith into their spiritual understanding. Keep in mind that the lawyer did not want an answer to his question rather, he wanted to tempt (v.25) the Lord, to catch Him in some error. Jesus answered with the above parable.

Before getting into the parable itself, let’s look at what happened after Jesus told it to the lawyer. He asks the lawyer in verse 36, “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?” The lawyer provides the correct answer, “He that showed mercy on him” and Jesus instructs the lawyer (for the second time) to go and do likewise. 

What is interesting is that Jesus never directly answered either of the questions the lawyer asked. The first question was answered by the lawyer himself. The second question, “Who is my neighbor?” was not answered. Indeed, Jesus led the lawyer to the answer of the question, “How can I be a neighbor?” I find this remarkable. It is more important that we, as Christians, are a good neighbor, than to know who our neighbors are, i.e. WE can be a neighbor to anyone.

Parable

The parable itself is equally remarkable for its didactics and scope.

In verse 31 Jesus says, “A certain [man] went down from Jerusalem to Jericho,…” He was going from a blessed city to a cursed city, i.e. the man was backsliding, heading in the wrong direction. Jerusalem is representative of the heavenly city, while Jericho is a cursed city. Scripture confirms these metaphors. Read Psalms 116:19, 122:6, 128:5, 137:5-6; 147:2; Isaiah 2:3, 4:3, 24:23; 27:13, Zechariah 8:22, 9:9, Hebrews 12:22, and Revelations 21:2 for a few examples of how blessed a city Jerusalem is. Even the name Jerusalem indicates a blessing. It is a compound word from Hebrew yarah and shalom meaning to teach and peace respectively. Jericho was cursed by the Lord through Joshua. Read Joshua 6:26, 10:1, 10:28 and Hebrews 11:30.

And of course when the man backslid he ran into trouble. This always happens when a person leaves the protection of God. Verse 31 (continuing), “and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded [him], and departed, leaving [him] half dead.” The man’s condition reminds me of the condition of the modern church in Revelations 3:17, “and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” The man is wretched (and wounded [him],), miserable (half dead ), poor (“and fell among thieves), and naked (stripped him of his raiment) all because he decided to take an ill-advised trip.

The behavior of the priest and Levite is inexcusable. To me they are representative of the nominal church system which could not or would not help him. Anytime a person is in a serious spiritual condition, the Lord has to intervene. To rely on a denomination or on the works of man will always leave the person in a worse condition. A priest is one who offers sacrifices and serves the Lord. A Levite is one who knows the law. So both men would have been intimately familiar with Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. They were under an obligation to help the man, yet chose to pass him by.

At this point, the Samaritan came to where the man was. During Jesus’ time the Samaritans were considered second class citizens. The Jewish religious hierarchy disdained them, deeming them to be on the same level as demon possessed sinners. John 4:8 states, “Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” In John 4:9, the woman at the well, a Samaritan, declares that Jews and Samaritans did not interact, “Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” Yet, it was the outcast, the despised Samaritan, NOT the religious leaders, who stopped to help the man.

What struck me was the Samaritan’s reaction: compassion. The Greek word (splagchnizomai) translated compassion in the parable is the same word used in Matthew 9:36 and Matthew 14:14 when Jesus had compassion on the multitude. This is also the same word used in Luke 15:20 when the father saw his prodigal son. So we know the reaction of the Samaritan was genuine. The word “Samaritan” comes from a Greek root Samareia which meansguardianship. So in the spiritual sense the Good Samaritan is a type of the Holy Spirit coming to the spiritual aid of the backslider.

Of course the Good Samaritan did not just “feel” compassion he also put the compassion into action by doing the following seven things:

1. He bound up his wounds
2. He poured in oil and wine
3. He set him on his on beast
4. He brought him to an inn
5. He took care of him
6. He gave the inn-keeper two pence to cover the costs
7. He promised to take care of everything else when he returned

What the Good Samaritan did unmistakably parallels perfectly with what the Holy Spirit does for us! 

1. He binds up our wounds – The Lord heals us not only physically but also spiritually, i.e. He removes the stain of the world from us.
2. He pours in the oil and wine – the Holy Ghost and the stimulation of revelation.
3. He puts us on his beast, i.e. He bears our burden with his power.
4. He brings us to an inn – a Holy Ghost filled church, a fellowship of believers.
5. He takes care of us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
6. He makes sure the inn-keeper, i.e. the pastor, has all he needs to take care of us spiritually.
7. He promises to come again and reward the inn-keeper for all he’s done – He’s coming to take away His bride.

May God bless you and bless the reading of His Word.