Luke 10:25-37 (NLT)
One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here. “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
What???? A Samaritan help a Jew???? Impossible!!!! It was impossible in Jesus’s time, but not to Jesus. The Jews and the Samaritans during the time of Jesus did not like each other, no let me rephrase that statement, they hated each other. In addition, Jesus is calling the best enemies neighbors, because of “care”. ‘The good neighbor was a despised Samaritan. This Samaritan, is hated and despised by the Jews, yet he restored the dignity of a Jew. This Jewish man was robbed of his human dignity, love and self-respect.
What made it easy for this Good Samaritan to help the Jew? The Bible said he felt compassion towards the victim. He dirtied his hands by cleaning the wounds and bandaging him. What this Samaritan did, there is no amount of money can buy. I am talking about the caring and loving heart. How many has the enemy robbed and we passed them by? I wonder how this Jew felt when people passed him by, instead of helping. We have thousands of excuses not to be involved. Some of those excuses are; I do not have money, I do not speak the language, I do not have time, and it is not my calling or I do not trust people. The list goes on. People want somebody who cares, not someone who has time or money.
This parable is about the “care” that does not CARE who you are, or where do you come from or which language you speak. Whether you are my enemy or my friend. We are called to CARE radically.
