By this all will know...

As a person who has been raised in church their entire life, I have heard this parable preached countless times… so much that I was arrogant enough to believe that I knew almost everything about this story. But, last summer, when I was counseling at church camp, I heard this Bible story preached once more, and now it is one of my most favorite biblical accounts ever.

In Luke 10:25-37, we read about a lawyer who was questioning Jesus about eternal life, which is a valid thought, of course. Then, this man starts to question Jesus about who is considered his neighbor, which allowed Jesus to tell him about the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Here, we read about a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho on a very dangerous road. He was robbed and beaten so badly that he was almost dead. A priest saw him lying on the road and proceeded to pass him by. Next, a Levite saw him and passed him by too. Then, a Samaritan, who was the least likely to help him, saw this poor man lying on the road, half-dead, and had compassion for him. We do not know if the man on the road was a Jew or Gentile, but we do know that the Samaritan did not care about race or religion – he only cared about need.

The Samaritan bound up his wounds with wine (to disinfect) and oil (to sooth), which are expensive items, but this man did not care that this was going to personally cost him.

This road that he was traveling on was notorious for robbing people. The Samaritan’s safety was not his own. He risked his life to help this poor man. Not only that, but he also risked his time, money, and safety because he was so strongly moved by compassion. He met his needs, picked him up, took him to a place to stay, and paid for his room at the hotel.

In verse 37, Jesus asks, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer said, “The one who showed him mercy.” He couldn’t even say “Samaritan” because of the hate he had in his heart for his neighbor – so, so sad.

But the point of this story is not just to tell us to be the Good Samaritans in this world.

Your standard for what “good” is, is nowhere near what God’s standard for “good” is. You are nowhere near to being considered a good person.

We will never meet the standard of how good and loving God is. We can only meet the opposite because we fail so often. Your standard for good will never meet God’s standard for good. This can sound so disheartening, however.

So what do we do?

We have to change our mind sets on how we look at this.

You cannot be the Good Samaritan because you don’t have the capacity to be the Good Samaritan.

Rather, we are that poor, little man on the ground, who is a completely broken sinner who needs the grace and compassion of God.

You, my friend, need a Good Samaritan in your life. You need THE GOOD SAMARITAN in your life.

The Good Samaritan that we know, as children of God, is Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn’t keep his safety, money, or health at hand to help you. He will help you no matter what.

He still told us this story so that we would know to love our neighbors as ourselves. But he also told us this story to show us that the Good Samaritan does not help people so that he can be helped in return. He seeks to show the love that he himself has been loved with.

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35

You show the world that you are a Christian by the way you love others… because that is how Jesus loves us every single day.