Luke 10:25-37
Main Idea: The Good Samaritan is a subversive story meant to draw us into the ultimate act and person of love.
“Though we call it the story of ‘The Good Samaritan,’ the story really isn’t about a Samaritan at all. The story is really about the lawyer. It’s about the one who stood up to ask the questions. And beyond that it’s about God, it’s about neighbor and it’s about the kinds of questions we ask to protect ourselves from God.” ~ Russell Moore
I. The Problem of Love (10:25-29)
A lawyer (expert in the OT & Jewish Law) attempts to “test” Jesus, likely skeptical of his reputation of being a “friend of sinners.” He is not asking a genuine question, but is deceptively trying to trap Jesus.
The lawyer correctly summarizes that all of the law is summarized by loving God (with all of your heart, soul, strength, and mind) and loving others as yourself. The problem is that none of us can fully and completely love God and love others in this way! The issue is not with the commandments, but with our inability to carry them out because of sin.
In feeling the weight of this reality, the lawyer seeks to “justify himself” by questioning the bare minimum: “Who is my neighbor?” This is the kind of question we ask to “protect ourselves from God” (Russell Moore) and to lessen the standard of God’s Word on our lives. The parable of the Good Samaritan is meant to blow this up altogether.
II. The Price of Love (10:30-35)
The rocky road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a 17-mile downhill stretch through the desert. It was known for robbers and bandits, making it dangerous to travel alone. In Jesus’ fictional story, the traveler was stripped, beaten and left “half-dead,” making the usual cultural markers for his identity inaccessible.
3 different people come near the dying man in the parable:
Priest: responsible for issues related to worship & the sacrifices in the temple in Jerusalem; had to be extremely concerned with “ritual cleanness” and would have become unclean by coming near the “half-dead” man.
Levite: assisted the priests with various tasks at the temple; after coming closer to the man, he decides to pass by, potentially fearing this may be a trap set by the robbers
Samaritan: the Jews and the Samaritans hated each other, going back ~700 years. There was an extreme racial & religious divide between the two groups that often incited violence. The Jews viewed them as “half-breed heretics.” The audience would have been outraged by the mention of a Samaritan, but Jesus goes further and makes him the hero of the story.
The Samaritan’s actions show he is willing to pay an immense cost to truly love this man:
He has “compassion” on the man (to be moved deeply internally - cf. Matt. 18:27)
He binds up his wounds (presumably with his own clothing) and pours oil and wine to heal him (terms used in temple worship)
He set him on his own animal and stays the night with him at an inn
He pays for nearly a month’s stay & offers to cover more if necessary
The Samaritan displays a radical generosity that is at the heart of true neighbor love; he is willing to risk his own life, pay an immense price, and be inconvenienced - all for the sake of a stranger & an enemy. The Samaritan teaches us that all true love is costly; it is never easy or convenient.
“Love is willing self-sacrifice for the good of another that does not require reciprocation or that the person being loved is deserving.” ~ Paul Tripp
If the interaction ended there, we would all have the exact same problem as when the parable began: how can we actually love in this way?
III. The Power of Love (10:36-37)
Jesus has masterfully flipped the man’s question around; rather than answering the question “who is my neighbor?” Jesus ends by asking the man “who proved to be a neighbor?” The right question to ask is not “who is my neighbor?” but instead “am I a neighbor?”
As a master story-teller, Jesus knows the religious, Jewish audience would never identify with the Samaritan man (see 10:37); instead, the way he tells the story invites them (and us) to identify with the man on the side of the road.
“Jesus puts the Israelite into the road, and he puts the hated Samaritan on the steed, in the saddle. Here’s the question he’s asking the man. “What if you were in the road? What if your life was ebbing out? What if you were bleeding to death? What if your only hope was an act of free grace to you from an enemy who doesn’t owe you any mercy, in fact, owes you the opposite? What if that was the situation? Would you want grace?” ~ Tim Keller
The Samaritan in the parable is a dramatic demonstration of the love of God to us in Christ Jesus. The gospel is the story of Jesus crossing not merely the road or ethnic boundaries, but crossing from heaven and earth to seek and save those who were enemies of God and lost.
What does this practically mean for us?
How are we trying to “justify ourselves,” just like this lawyer?
Who can we be a neighbor to?
1 John 3:18: “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
“The Christian church has often said that we need to see Jesus as the Samaritan, and indeed he is. But even more than that, Jesus is the beaten man. He will go to Jerusalem. He will go outside the camp. He will fall among thieves and be stripped and beaten, and the priests and the Levites and the businessmen and even the Samaritans will walk along the road. Many of them will point to their children as they see this man drowning in his own blood and will say simply, “You don’t want to end up like that. Let’s go over this way.” The crucified one shows up mysteriously, he tells us, “In the least of these, my brothers,” and the question is, when you encounter them, do you see his face?” ~ Russell Moore
