Parable of the Good Samaritan, Part 4
This Week's Bible Reading: Luke 10:25-37 (focus on verses 36-37)
Over the past few weeks, we've been exploring the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told this parable because a lawyer wanted clarification on who his neighbor was. After Jesus reveals the twist ending of the story—that the hero is a despised Samaritan—he poses this question to the lawyer:
"Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked. (Luke 10:36, NLT)
Jesus makes a subtle change to the lawyer's original question. The lawyer asked, "Who is my neighbor?" (v. 29) But now Jesus asks him, "Who in this story acted like a neighbor to the injured man?" When put like this, the answer is obvious. The lawyer can't yet bring himself to utter the dreaded "S" word (“Samaritan!”). But he does understand what Jesus is getting at:
The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy." (Luke 10:37, NLT)
By rephrasing the question this way, Jesus is saying, "Don't worry so much about who your neighbor is. Instead, focus on being a neighbor to others. Treat the people around you with so much compassion that it shocks them!"
The book Parables from the Back Side by J. Ellsworth Kalas examines Jesus' parables from a different perspective. In the chapter titled "When the Good Samaritan Is Bad News," Kalas approaches this parable from the viewpoint of the injured man. How did he feel about being rescued by a Samaritan?
Imagine him lying in bed at the inn, still battered and bruised from the vicious attack. He slowly opens his eyes and finds himself in a dimly lit room. He tries to speak but is too weak, and his mouth is so dry. Then he hears a gentle voice.
"Don't try to move. Just rest," says a shadowy figure leaning over him. The stranger lifts the man's head and helps him drink some water. The man senses he is in good hands and whispers a prayer of thanks to God. Then he settles back in the bed and drifts off to sleep.
The next day, the man feels a bit better. The innkeeper comes to check on him.
"What happened to me last night?" the man asks. "Who tended to me?"
The innkeeper doesn't know many details about the stranger's identity. But he does know one thing: he was a Samaritan.
The man is shocked to discover this! He's not sure what to think or how to feel. He has such immense gratitude for the person who saved him. But learning that it was a Samaritan rattles him to the core.
Receiving compassion from someone we do not like is an uncomfortable experience. It forces us to view them through a different lens. Here is how Kalas puts it:
I'm sure God has a warm and gentle sense of humor. He so often sends blessings into our lives through unlikely channels. Let me warn you: As surely as you harbor ill feelings against some ethnic, racial, or intellectual group, or some particular class of people, you can expect that someday, somehow God will allow such a person to touch your life in some strange and helpful way. The good Samaritan so often is bad news to our preferences and prejudices.
This aspect of the parable challenges all of us. But if we can grasp it, we'll find God's Kingdom breaking through in the most unlikely places. So, as our time with this parable nears its end, I want us to try a little exercise.
Grab a pen and paper and write down this phrase:
The Good ____________________________.
Now think of someone you struggle to show compassion to (and would find it hard to receive compassion from). Write their name in that blank.
It could be an individual person.
The Good Sister-in-Law Who Criticizes Me.
The Good Supervisor at Work Who Berates Me.
The Good Guy at the Stoplight Revving His Engine for No Apparent Reason Who Annoys Me.
Or it could be a specific group of people like in Jesus' parable. Of course, it will be a different group for each of us. For some, it might be:
The Good Socialist.
The Good Immigrant.
And for others, perhaps:
The Good Tech Billionaire.
The Good MAGA Hat-Wearer.
Whoever it is for you, write it in that blank. Then, take a moment to read the phrase: "The Good ______________."
If it makes you recoil a bit in disgust, that's okay.
If it makes you want to crumble up the paper and throw it across the room, that's okay, too. You're probably feeling what the lawyer felt after hearing Jesus' words. That's why this parable is so offensive.
Do you know who I would write in that blank? I can think of a few options, but here is my answer for today:
The Good Lawyer Who Asked Jesus, "Who Is My Neighbor?"
Yes, it's hard for me to love this lawyer. He was trying to wiggle his way out of loving people he didn't like. He comes across as smug and self-righteous.
But as I type those words, I know I am the one acting self-righteous. It's ironic, isn't it? I struggle to feel compassion for the person I see as compassionless! I am no better than the lawyer. Jesus' words challenge both of us.
And who knows? Maybe something in the lawyer began to change that day. I pray I am changing, and change takes time for all of us. Every small step we take toward compassion brings us closer to living out God's Kingdom on earth. Though the lawyer couldn't say the "S" word, he still answered Jesus' question correctly.
He knew what goodness looked like, even when it was done by someone he didn't consider all that good.
Questions to Ponder:
How do you think the Jewish man in the parable felt when he learned that a Samaritan rescued him?
Take some time to slowly go through the fill-in-the-blank exercise above. How would it feel to show compassion to the person (or group) you wrote in? How would it feel to receive compassion from them? How can you take one small step to extend kindness to this person or group in your daily life?
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