The Good Samaritan

Short Stories  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 3 views
Notes
Transcript
Short Stories
The Good Samaritan
We are on week 3 of our series, “Short Stories”.
We’ve talked about the parable of the Unmerciful Servant and the Parable of the Sower.
Today we are going to be talking about “The Good Samaritan.”
This is a very popular parable that many people know.
Today I want to break this parable down and help us to REALLY see what Jesus was telling us through this parable.
Because I think we hear about this parable and just assume it means to help those in need.
That we need to help the helpless by giving money to different organizations and ministries.
But that’s NOT all that Jesus is saying here.
That’s not even the main point of this parable.
“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “ ‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
So a lawyer asks Jesus a question about how to receive eternal life.
At this time lawyers and Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus to get him to say something that will give them the right to arrest him.
But Jesus doesn’t take the bait, so he asks the lawyer what he thinks the law says.
So he responds with Love God and love your neighbor and Jesus just says, “That’s right, do this and live.”
But that wasn’t good enough so he asks Jesus who his neighbor is.
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
So instead of just answering the question, Jesus tells a story
He talks about a man robbed and beaten on the side of the road.
A priest walks by and ignores him and goes to the other side of the road.
This is a PRIEST
He’s a religious man that serves in the temple for God.
He’s a modern day Pastor.
And he just ignores this man.
Now some people will say that priests couldn’t touch dead bodies so if he thought he was dead he couldn’t do anything.
REALLY?
You couldn’t at least go find someone to help.
The point is that he did nothing.
Then a Levite comes and does the same thing.
Now it’s good to know that all priests were Levites.
But not all Levites were priests.
But it they weren’t a priest they would would help serve the priest in the temple.
Think of them as a key volunteer in the church.
And he responds the same way as the priest.
Now this next part is when the story gets crazy.
This is why it’s so important to study the Word and the context of these stories because if you just read this on your own, you don’t think anything of this next part.
You just think a Samaritan came along. No big deal.
WRONG!
Jews HATED Samaritans
The Samaritans were half-Jew, half-Gentile. The race came about after the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C. Certain people from the nation of Israel stayed behind. These people intermarried with the Assyrians producing the Samaritans.
So Jews looked at Samaritans as evil half breeds who they NEVER communicated with.
And now all of a sudden Jesus starts talking about a Samaritan coming down the path.
He then goes on to talk about how this Samaritan helps this man.
He didn’t just call 911
He bandaged him up and loaded him on his own donkey.
Then brought him to an inn and paid for him to stay there and heal up.
I’ve seen it said that the 2 denarii would pay for 3 weeks in the inn.
But he also tells the keeper that he’ll pay for any extra expenses when he comes back.
So this Samaritan is going above and beyond to help this man.
He is lavishly loving and caring for this man.
So then Jesus turns it back onto the lawyer and asks who he thinks was the neighbor to the man that was robbed.
And the lawyer couldn’t even say, “the Samaritan”.
He just says, “the one who had mercy”.
Jesus then says, “go and do likewise.”
So what’s Jesus trying to say in this parable?
Let’s go back to the original question of what must I do to inherit the kingdom of God.
The answer to that question is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus says this again when He’s asked what the greatest commandment is.
“ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
He basically says there’s 1 and 1A.
So he’s saying that these two commands are equally important.
But I do think there’s a reason why, “Love the Lord your God” is first.
Because you can love your neighbor and not love God.
But Jesus is saying you CAN’T love God and NOT love your neighbor.
And that’s the heart behind this parable.
It’s not about just finding someone who has a physical need and helping them.
YES we SHOULD do those things, but that’s not the point.
There’s a reason why Jesus used a Samaritan to be the person to do the right thing.
He could have just as easily said an Israilite came down the path.
But again THIS is the heart of the parable.
You see the Israelite people thought love your neighbor meant, love your fellow Israealites.
Love the people in your group.
And Jesus is making the point that’s NOT what that means.
He’s rocking the boat and saying even those people you hate, you are to love them!
Jesus is saying Loving God means that one cannot place limits on whom one must love as a neighbor.
You see we live in a time where many Christians don’t fully understand this parable and this is a parable they desperately need to figure out.
Because if I’m being honest, a large amount of Christians have thought their neighbor is fellow believers.
And if you aren’t one of us, then I’m going to treat you like the devil.
Jesus NEVER said to just love other Christians.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Did you catch that in verse 35
This is why it’s so important.
He says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Christians SHOULD be known by how kind and loving they treat EVERYONE.
That should be a staple of a believer.
Yet I feel like many of us have missed the mark in this area.
All you have to do is look on social media.
Look at how Christians talk about non believers.
It’s horrifying.
It’s full of anger and hate.
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Love should be the identifier of our faith.
I have no problem with people being bold and standing up for what they believe.
But being bold doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk.
You can say what you believe in a loving way.
You see in Ephesians Paul talks about speaking the truth in love.
There’s A LOT of people out there that are really good and speaking the truth.
But they have NO love.
And in turn, nobody is listening to what they have to say.
It’s like the people I saw in downtown Chicago with big signs that say, “For the wages of sin is death”.
I want to ask them how many people have been saved because of that sign.
Because if I had to guess I would say not many.
You LOVE people, and by loving people you will have opportunities to present the truth to them.
That’s why I loved what Dan Seaborn said a couple weeks ago about how he wants to bridge the gap to the same sex community.
Because if I’m being honest and you were to ask me what people group would be considered a modern day Samaritan to us, it’s the LGBTQ.
So many Christians treat the same sex community like the plague.
STAY AWAY FROM ME!
Now this is when people start to get really nervous
You’re thinking, oh so we should just condone that lifestyle.
NO
I think the bible is very clear on this issue.
But I also think we will NEVER lead them to Jesus if we treat them like we have.
We are called to love them.
And when you do that, you will have opportunities to share with them what you believe and why you believe it.
But we think we just need to tell them the truth no matter how it comes across.
We went to a youth conference last year where one of the speakers used to be a lesbian.
Long story short, she had a radical encounter with God and is no longer living that lifestyle, but she made an interesting comment.
She talked about how she never thought God would love her and forgive her because the only encounter she ever had with Christians was at the gay pride parades.
There they would hold signs that says, “God hates gays” and how they are all going to hell.
It broke my heart to hear that.
That her only encounter with Christians was them telling her that God hates her.
That is NOT what loving your neighbor looks like.
There’s a saying that I love that says, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
CALL BAND UP
In our youth group we have 3 or 4 openly gay students who come every week.
And they know where we stand on the issue.
But because we have always loved them and welcomed them there like anyone else they keep coming back.
And our small group leaders have been able to connect with them and talk to them about a lot of stuff they have going on in their life.
We are called to love EVERYONE!
If you try to preach the truth but don’t have love you will have NO impact on people.
Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians.
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
It says if you speak WITHOUT love it’s like a clanging of cymbals!
When you speak without love, it’s just a bunch of noise that doesn’t get through to anyone.
We are called to reach the lost.
The way to do that is through love.
I know it’s hard when we see what’s going on in the world and we just can’t believe it.
It’s ok to have those frustrations.
But we always respond in love.
1 Corinthian 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
This church will be and is a church of love.
That’s why we are an inside out community.
Because we want to take what God is teaching us and revealing to us here and bring out there to help people with their physical needs and in the process hope to help them with their spiritual needs as well.
So this morning I want us to just take some time and think of our lives and ask ourselves if we truly love our neighbor.
Think about conversations you’ve had.
Think about some of your recent posts.
Did it have a tone of love?
That doesn’t mean you can’t post anything that talks about what you believe.
Just understand the tone behind.
I want when the city of Greenville thinks of City Church, the first thing they think of is, these people love and respect everybody!
Altar Call
Worship - Prayer Team
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more