I was just a kid when I received my first Erector Set. Do
you remember them? The box contained these thin metal beams and nuts and bolts.
Also enclosed were pulleys, gears, wheels and even a small motor. If everything
was assembled according to the directions you would have a functioning toy that
resembled what was on the box cover. However, like many young people, I was too
hurried to follow the instructions and so the finished project didn’t look
anything like a helicopter, Ferris wheel, or a crane, but instead a mangled
mess of metal that would not properly function.
Unfortunately, this is how many people handle the Word of
God, and in particular the parables. Rather than following rules governing
Bible interpretation, well-meaning, but mislead individuals make up the rules
as they go, and their explanation of the passage is a mangled mess that not
only does not resemble what it was intended to, it also fails to serve its proposed
purpose.
This is never any truer than when it comes to the parable
of the Good Samaritan. Sadly, this rich little parable has been brutally
handled by many men who treat the text like Dr. Frankenstein did his monster,
and force together unconnected parts in order to try and make one monstrous
whole.
When taken in context, the parable is yet again a very
simple lesson in how citizens of Christ’s kingdom should conduct themselves.
Note with me the occasion on which the parable is told.
In Luke 10:25-37 an expert in Old Testament law comes to
Jesus to ask him a hard question hoping He will misspeak and open Himself to
accusation. The lawyer asks, “What can I do to inherit eternal life?” This is a
good question, even though his motives are dishonest.
The Lord then does what my mother always taught me not to
do … He answered a question with a question. He turns and asks this lawyer for
his own opinion. Obviously, our Lord is hinting that a legal expert should
already know the answer.
The man then replies by quoting from Deuteronomy, “thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, strength, and mind. And
love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus replies, that’s correct do this and you will have
eternal life.
But the man, willing to justify himself, asks, “who is my
neighbor?” In essence, “who am I required to love as myself?”
Christ responds to this question by sharing the parable
of the Good Samaritan.
In the parable, Jesus speaks about a traveling man who leaves
Jerusalem headed down the Jericho road. Unexpectedly, he is assaulted by
bandits, who beat him and steal all his belongings. The man is left for dead in
the side of the ditch, barely hanging on to life.
However, it isn’t long until a priest walks by. However, the
priest crosses to the other side of the road, callously ignoring the injured
man. A few moments later, a Levite also passes by, but he too disregards the
man and leaves him to die.
Fortunately, another passerby sees the man, has
compassion on him and comes to his aid. The Lord shockingly uses a Samaritan as
the hero of the story. As you are probably aware, the Jews hated the Samaritans
and had no dealings with them. (John 4:9) A Samaritan would be the last person
anyone would expect to help a Jew in distress. Yet, the Good Samaritan not only
binds up the wounds of the ailing traveler, he puts the wounded man on the back
of his own animal, takes him to a local inn and pays his room fee for as long
as he needs to recuperate.
Having finished the parable, Jesus asked the lawyer “Who
was really neighbor to the man who fell among thieves?” The lawyer reluctantly admits
the Samaritan was neighbor to the injured man.
Christ then emphatically orders the man to follow in the
steps of the Good Samaritan and go and do likewise.
Remember the parable was told because this lawyer wanted
to know who was his neighbor. In other words, who was he required to love as
himself. The answer that Jesus gives through use of this illustration is that
everyone in our path who is in need is our neighbor. We should not pass by,
ignore or disregarding the plight of any needy person God places in our path.
That’s our neighbor.
All those who have been born-again by the sovereign grace
of our Great God, have the divine duty to love our neighbors as ourselves. That
means, taking the time to invest in their lives.
We need not play the part of “mad-scientist” with this
text. It is difficult enough to obey without complicating it further. We must
recognize that God places people in our path so that we may help and perhaps
even make an eternal difference in their lives.
Memorial Heights Baptist Church
svdbygrace2@roadrunner.com
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