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The 14th Sunday in Trinity
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
September 13, 2009

TEXT:  (Luke 10:25-37 NKJ) And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26  He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" 27 So he answered and said, "`You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and`your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 "Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32  "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35  "On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him,`Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' 36 "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" 37 And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
 
In our text Jesus is challenged by a man described as a lawyer—a man who was a master of the Old Testament teachings—and Jesus answers the question intended to trick Him—He answers a question with a question—Jesus is prompting the man to examine what he already knows—and by asking the question of the young man—Jesus teaches the application of the Old Testament
 (Deuteronomy 6:5 NKJ) "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
 
(Leviticus 19:18 NKJ) `You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
 
In another Gospel, Jesus uses these same words to explain which is the greatest of the laws
 
(Matthew 22:36-40 NKJ) "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37  Jesus said to him, "`You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it:`You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
 
In the Matthew lesson, Jesus answers the question—in this Luke lesson, Jesus has the lawyer answer his own question—it is not surprising that both passages quote the same verse from Deuteronomy—this was a verse that was to be memorized by every Jew for all time
 
(Deuteronomy 6:4-9 NKJ) "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
 
God makes it very clear in the Old Testament and in the New Testament that He is God and we are to love Him with all our hearts—the Pharisees—scribes—and all Jews in general understood this command—they actually did write it on small pieces of paper and tied it to their hands—bound it to their foreheads—nailed it to their doorposts—memorized it—taught it to their children—and our New Testament Jesus instructs us to know that this is one of the two commandments that we are to live by
 
The second commandment is also from one of the books Moses wrote
 
(Leviticus 19:18 NKJ) `You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Love God—love your neighbor—all of the commandments can be broken into these two—it is all so simple—but it is not easy—the real lesson of our text is that although the words of these two commands are simple—it is not always easy to recognize the right thing to do
 
To help this man understand the error of his way—Jesus now shares the parable with him—this story about the Jew who is beaten—robbed—and left for dead—a Samaritan comes to his aid after a priest and a Levite pass without stopping—this parable is intended to help the man understand that he neither loved God or loved his neighbor—and now for a look at the meaning of the parable
 
The Samaritan = Jesus the Christ—the Samaritans were despised by the Jews—they were remnants of the northern tribes of Israel—they worshipped false gods—even though they had a share of the Jewish experience and heritage—Jesus was also despised by the Jews—the Samaritan saved the man who was robbed of everything and left dying without help—and Jesus saves man who has no hope without a Savior
 
The Man Who Was Robbed and Left for Dead = All mankind
 
The Attempted Murderers Who Beat and Robbed the Man and Left Him to Die = The devil and his workers—who will rob us of eternal life and take pleasure in our death—they lie and get us to look away from God
 
(John 8:44 NKJ) "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
 
And from another parable spoken by Jesus—the parable of the sower—where Jesus Himself identifies the devil as the one who tries to destroy us
 
(Matthew 13:19 NKJ) "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
 
Jesus also identifies the devil as our enemy in the parable of the wheat and tares
 
(Matthew 13:38-39 NKJ)  "The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39  "The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
The Priest = The fathers before Moses
 
The Levite = The priesthood of the Old Testament
 
The Oil Poured Out to Sooth the Wounds = The oil of grace—the comfort of the Gospel
 
The Wine Poured Out on the Wounds = The sharp sting of the Law—knowing we cannot satisfy the Law—the sting of the cross upon which our Savior died—so that He might have victory over death—and we might inherit that power over death
 
The Samaritan lifts the wounded man to Himself—and carries him to the safety and security of the Inn for healing and comfort—the wounded man does nothing to contribute to his rescue from certain death—all is done for him
 
The Inn = The Church on this earth
 
The Host or Innkeeper = Ministers of the Word—here to comfort and care for God’s people until they are called home—notice the Innkeeper is supposed to gently feed the people—carry the weak—heal the sick—administering to those with needs—each in accordance with their needs
 
Since the man who asked Jesus “who is my neighbor?”—is a man who must be familiar with the Scriptures—but does not love God—nor does he love his neighbor—this parable is his one hope to find life
 
Jesus gave him a lot to think about—surely this man was very familiar with the road from Jerusalem to Jericho—it was about 4 miles and the road was through a desolate mountain region that was considered very unsafe—bands of robbers routinely hid and waited to beat up and rob travelers—it would be easy to project yourself into the lesson
 
We are no different today—our hope is also based on our ability to understand that Jesus is our Savior—who carries us to the safety of the Inn—and provides those to comfort us and serve our needs while we are in this world—until we are called home
 
(Philippians 3:20-21 NKJ) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!