THE GOOD SAMARITAN: WHAT PROMPTED THE PARABLE?
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. The Good Samaritan
a) The parable of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) is well-known. Jesus told the story to show up the stupidity and hypocrisy of the religious leaders in Jerusalem.
b) The parable illustrates how gaunt was compassion in the religious system of the time. The Bible said plainly, "Love thy neighbor". The hypocrites curled the lip at that, and sought to muddy the matter with a clever question, "And who is my neighbor?". Jesus answers with a simple story that makes the clever question look dumb indeed.
c) The parable of the Good Samaritan carries the God's kingdom is for all. In God's kingdom the weak are strong, and God looks on the heart.
d) The quality of heart portrayed in this parable is a heart of compassion, a heart that sincerely and impartially loves fellow men, and through this loves God (1 John 4:7-12).
Luke 10:25-37
“25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. The lawyer asked, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' 26 Jesus said to him, 'What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it?' 27 The lawyer answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' 28 And Jesus said to him, 'You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.'”
“29 But the lawyer wanted to justify himself. He said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' 30 Jesus replied, 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him. Then they went away leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road. When the priest saw the victim, he passed by on the far side of the road. 32 Later a Levite, when he came to the place and saw the victim, likewise passed by on the far side.”
“33 However a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where the victim lay. When the Samaritan noticed him, the Samaritan had compassion. 34 He went up to him and bound up his wounds. He poured on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn. There he took care of him. 35 Next day he took out two denari and gave this money to the innkeeper. 'Take care of him,' said the Samaritan, 'And if you spend more than this, I will repay you when I return.'”
“36 Jesus asked the lawyer, 'Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?' 37 The lawyer replied, 'The one who showed him mercy.' Jesus said to him, 'You go and do likewise.'”
2. What Prompted The Parable?
a) Luke 10:25-30, 36-37 record the background to the telling of the story. A certain lawyer asks Jesus a test question which Jesus fired right back at him. So the lawyer fired back another question that implied some kind of legal technicality in the definition of the word "neighbor" so as to allow one to exclude the most part of humanity from love.
b) The lawyers mentioned in the gospels were not lawyers dealing with civil legal proceedings, but experts in religious law supposedly based on the law of Moses but in fact consisting mostly of the traditions and inventions of men (Mark 7:9-13).
The End ...
1. The Good Samaritan a) The parable of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) is well-known. Jesus told the story to show up the stupidity and hypocrisy of the religious leaders in Jerusalem.
b) The parable illustrates how gaunt was compassion in the religious system of the time. The Bible said plainly, "Love thy neighbor". The hypocrites curled the lip at that, and sought to muddy the matter with a clever question, "And who is my neighbor?". Jesus answers with a simple story that makes the clever question look dumb indeed.
c) The parable of the Good Samaritan carries the God's kingdom is for all. In God's kingdom the weak are strong, and God looks on the heart.
d) The quality of heart portrayed in this parable is a heart of compassion, a heart that sincerely and impartially loves fellow men, and through this loves God (1 John 4:7-12).
Luke 10:25-37
“25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. The lawyer asked, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' 26 Jesus said to him, 'What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it?' 27 The lawyer answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' 28 And Jesus said to him, 'You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.'”
“29 But the lawyer wanted to justify himself. He said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' 30 Jesus replied, 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him. Then they went away leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road. When the priest saw the victim, he passed by on the far side of the road. 32 Later a Levite, when he came to the place and saw the victim, likewise passed by on the far side.”
“33 However a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where the victim lay. When the Samaritan noticed him, the Samaritan had compassion. 34 He went up to him and bound up his wounds. He poured on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn. There he took care of him. 35 Next day he took out two denari and gave this money to the innkeeper. 'Take care of him,' said the Samaritan, 'And if you spend more than this, I will repay you when I return.'”
“36 Jesus asked the lawyer, 'Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?' 37 The lawyer replied, 'The one who showed him mercy.' Jesus said to him, 'You go and do likewise.'”
2. What Prompted The Parable?
a) Luke 10:25-30, 36-37 record the background to the telling of the story. A certain lawyer asks Jesus a test question which Jesus fired right back at him. So the lawyer fired back another question that implied some kind of legal technicality in the definition of the word "neighbor" so as to allow one to exclude the most part of humanity from love.
b) The lawyers mentioned in the gospels were not lawyers dealing with civil legal proceedings, but experts in religious law supposedly based on the law of Moses but in fact consisting mostly of the traditions and inventions of men (Mark 7:9-13).
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