We are surrounded by broken people in a broken world. Watching the nightly news reminds most of us that we somehow have remained unscathed throughout another day of murders, rapes, robberies and disasters. Though not being directly involved in the various tragedies, “unscathed” is the wrong word. As Christians, if we are not somehow touched by the magnitude of events in the lives of our fellow humans, we cannot be walking with God’s love.
Jesus was confronted by a lawyer interested in eternal life. That lawyer appears to be involved in the interpretation of Mosaic law, rather than a man involved in the judicial system. The lawyer asked the Lord how to gain eternal life. As He often did, Jesus answered the man’s question with a question, getting him to look inside for the answer. Certainly, there is much deeper comprehension when issues are applied in a personal manner, as most of us have great difficulty learning from someone else’s mistakes. When questioned, the man answered rightly; at least they were the right words. He said that if we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and in addition, love our neighbors as ourselves, we will be saved, paraphrasing Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.
That seems to suggest that we can be saved by following the law, rather than by accepting Jesus into our hearts as our Savior. Salvation can be obtained by following the law, but one infraction is failure. While it is a path to salvation, it is not a path that sinners can take, and we all are sinners:
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Galatians 2:16
Instead, Jesus demonstrated His position as the ablest teacher by pointing the man’s thoughts to a more accurate interpretation of those verses. Jesus shared with him the story of the “Good Samaritan.”
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.”
Luke 10:30-37
First, we notice that the ones unwilling to help a brother in need were religious men, well-educated in the Old Testament law, just as the man who originally asked Jesus the question. Instead, the man willing to come to the man’s aid, through much personal sacrifice, was looked upon as an untouchable, a Samaritan. There was a long history of animosity between Jews and Samaritans. Remember, when Jesus offended the Jews, they could come up with no more offensive insult than calling Him a Samaritan (John 8:48). Samaritans did not feel any more warmly for the Jews. This enmity had existed for centuries. When the Jews were taken into Babylonian captivity, the Babylonian king did not desire for the land to become fallow, so he sent people from Babylon to live in the land. (2 Kings 17:26) These were non-Jewish colonists in a land that had been given to the Jews by God.
When the Jews returned, both co-existed, but not peacefully. In fact, when Alexander the Great came through Israel and treated the Jews favorably, the Samaritans also claimed to be of Hebrew descent. Yet soon after, the Samaritans assassinated a governor appointed by Alexander, leading the well-known conqueror to take Samaria. The city of Samaria, the capital of the northern section of Israel, remained the center for the worship of false idols. Most of those in Jerusalem not interested in following God’s laws found their ways to that idolatrous city, which was very similar to most of our cities today. Samaria’s religion was of an a la carte variety, mixing parts of God’s law with other beliefs. Yet God tells us who He is in His Word. We cannot change Him by picking and choosing which aspects we like! That makes the tale of the “Good Samaritan” much more meaningful.
As Christians, we are not called to come to the aid of our fellow believers any more readily than we are called to help all brothers in need. It does not matter how dirty they appear, or whether or not we share the same social status. God created every single human and by His hand, each one is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14) Would Jesus walk past a broken man, lying on the ground? Sadly, with the Lord living inside of us, there are frequent occurrences when we carry Jesus right past those who are hurting. Just as in the parable shared by Jesus, we should not let our religion give us a sanctimonious stance in relation to those who do not know Him. Is there a more amplified message than love? We are not responsible for how those broken people receive our hand of compassion, but through the Holy Spirit, those deeds are seeds to plant of the love of God. It is nothing to be a hearer of the Word of God and everything to be a doer of that same Word! Share the love of God with others, just as He shared it with you! Above all, have compassion, feeling the pain of others. Never lose sight of the fact that God could choose to place us in that same position, as we have not earned any better treatment. Instead, God has shared His compassion with us! “Go and do likewise!”
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Luke 15:20-21
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