True Neighborliness
Our teaching is taken from Luke 10:25-37, commonly known as the parable
of The Good Samaritan. One might ask, “What new thing can come
out of this?” Yet, we believe there is much to learn from this
teaching of Jesus. May our hearts be open in true objectivity.
Today, many people do not know their neighbors, nor do they even want
to know their neighbors. In fact, the question that the lawyer in this
story asked back in Jesus’ day is the same question people might
ask today, even for the same reason: “Who is my neighbor?”
or, Why should I do anything for anybody? What is a neighbor? This reflects
a certain attitude of heart and we believe that Jesus is still speaking
to all of us about it. It is interesting to note that in this parable
the Lord reveals not only who is our neighbor, but who we are and whether
we, ourselves, are a true neighbor.
“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Jesus, saying,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What
is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour
as thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do,
and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus,
And who is my neighbour?”
—Luke 10:25-29
Jesus was calling this lawyer to the understanding of what the law
demands: that we love God this particular way, and that we love our
neighbor as we ourselves would want to be loved. Now, that should have
been the end of the conversation. The lawyer was struck with the fact
that there was no argument, and that he had not found out anything from
Jesus to indicate His true identity. And, it seemed like Jesus had narrowed
things down rather quickly, to the shame of this lawyer. He was saying,
in effect, if you are able to do this, then you are able to have eternal
life. And what is eternal life? Jesus, in His prayer for His disciples
in John 17:3, said, “And this is life eternal, that they might
know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”
Eternal life is knowing God. It is knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. (Have
you ever thought about the fact that Eternal Life might not be what
you may have always pictured “heaven” to be? It might be
centered on communing with Jesus Christ, knowing Him in relationship.
Even now! Could you be satisfied with that? That eternal life is just
getting to know the Lord perfectly, never leaving His presence? Would
that be enough for you? Would you call that eternal life? That we might
dwell with Him in any life, anywhere.)
Now, if this lawyer had come as someone who was truly seeking, he
would have heard something in how Jesus responded to his question—with
the demands of the law—and would have asked himself some serious
questions: “Am I really coming under the demands of the law?”
“Am I really loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength?”
“Am I really loving my brother as I would want to be loved?”
And he probably would have bent his knee and cried out to the Lord saying,
“Please, help me!” The Lord had responded to him—a
lawyer, a law keeper—so that he might hear. Yet, with this fresh
understanding in having the law brought before his eyes, and seeing
how he may have failed, he did not cry out for mercy. Upon hearing Jesus’
response to his first question, he then tried to justify himself. He
tried to remove the spotlight from himself onto something else, and
thus he forced Jesus to answer publicly. He may have been hearing, from
the orthodox Jewish side of things, that Jesus was a “liberal”
who hung out with the tax collectors, the whores, the poor, the degenerate,
the sick, the lame, and all the rest. So the lawyer again tested Jesus,
wanting to find out for himself who He really was. He simply asked the
question, “Who is my neighbor?” (“Jesus, You tell
us. Give us some detail. Show us right where the line is. We want to
know exactly where it begins and exactly where it ends. Who is our neighbor?”)
He was trying to set Jesus up in public, to frame Him. It was of real
interest what Jesus would say to this question.
At another time, when speaking to the Pharisees and lawyers, Jesus
noted the difference between Himself and John the Baptist, and their
response to these differences. (Matt. 11:2-19; Luke 7:18-35). He said,
“For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine;
and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking;
and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, a friend of
publicans and sinners!” He was pointing out that they had a mobile
idea of truth! They just scooted “truth” around, and whomever
or whatever they did not like, they simply changed “truth”
to meet their hypocritical ideas. (Ever seen that before?)
And so the lawyer, willing to justify himself, quipped, “And
who is my neighbor?” Now, in Jesus’ day, to bring up the
subject of “Who is my neighbor?” would certainly cause a
big debate. It was a bit like someone in our day, in a public forum,
asking about homosexuality or divorce and remarriage. The reason it
was such a big issue, especially to the Jews, was because there were
the Roman “dogs” around, and the Samaritans—those
“half-breeds,” half Jew and half Assyrian, etc. Additionally,
the leaders of the Jews at that time, the Sanhedrin, had made a “legal”
distinction between ‘neighbor’ and ‘stranger.’
Jews regarded outsiders as Gentile dogs. All nations do that to some
degree, even in our day. It is called “nationalism.” The
Greeks saw outsiders as barbarians. The Mohammedans see them as infidels,
etc. This reveals the heart of all men—both as ignorant and selfish.
We in America regard others in a manner similar to this when we use
labels for people such as: white, Japanese, black, Indian, Mexican,
Latino, Russian. We have all these national sheaths that we put upon
people. All natural men are racist to the core. A simple glance through
history shows this. We call it “war.” Yet, Jesus came along
and erased those condemning titles from the religious dictions of man’s
mind and wrote in their place, “Brother.” He rolled them
all together—neighbor, stranger, friend, relation—and called
them ‘brother.’
So now Jesus is answering this question, “Who is my neighbor?”
by telling His renown parable of the good Samaritan. And as He does,
we see His teaching leap off the page to all of us, to meet us right
in our own conscience. He lays the question to the constraint of every
man in their own conscience. That may be why there is so much fame and
familiarity with this particular parable, because it does tend to touch
us all in a distinct, peculiar way. Yet … only if we are listening.
“And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem
to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment,
and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.”—Luke
10:30
Notice carefully how Jesus sets His dialogue upon a very dangerous
road! It was called “Bloody Pass” by those who lived in
that day, because it was notorious for bandits. The distance from the
city of Jerusalem down to Jericho was about 20 miles, going from 2800
ft. above sea level to 1300 ft. below sea level. Bethany lay in between,
and Jesus spent a lot of time there. So this road was very familiar
to Him, as well as to the many people who were listening to His parable.
Jesus had probably walked there quite often Himself, as had most of
His listeners. It was a road on which it would be unwise to be alone,
as there were little twists and caves and places for bandits to hide.
The man who was left half dead on the Jericho road was, most likely,
a Jewish man because it was in the district of Judea. And most often,
the people trafficking there were Jewish people.
“And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and
when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.”—Luke 10:31
The first to come along was a priest. He saw this man, more than likely
a fellow Jewish national, lying on the road half dead. This was a priest
to the Jews. He had everything to do with helping people come unto the
Lord. He would take up the cares and the needs of the people, and as
a priest go before the Lord, cry out to Him and intercede for the people.
Is that not the function of a priest? Is that not the role of priesthood?
And he was doing this professionally, legally and legitimately every
day. He was an intermediary for the people to God. But on this particular
occasion, outside of his temple, he saw and then walked by on the other
side of the road. And then Jesus said,
“And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked
on him, and passed by on the other side.”—Luke 10:32
Now there was a second man who came along. He was a Levite, meaning
he was a fellow Jewish national, also. He was a door-keeper by trade,
which meant that, as part of his religious duty, he was involved in
watching over the needs of the temple. Levites, by heredity and birth
order, were involved in the work of the house of the Lord. They were
selected for singing, choir-leading, praising and worshipping, bringing
healing and joy to the hearts and the souls of men every day in the
temple. They were professionals. They did this for a living. But, like
the priest, when he looked at the man lying in the road, he chose to
walk by on the other side of the road.
Now they could have been thinking, “I’m too busy! I’m
in a hurry! I don’t have time! There is potential danger here!
This might be gang activity! Maybe a drug deal gone bad or something
and perhaps they are right around the corner. I see blood there! I mean,
this guy looks dead! He just might have AIDS or something, and I’m
not really equipped to deal with that! This looks like some kind of
a set-up, maybe I’ll call the police! Or, maybe I’ll call
the ambulance. I’ll run for help.” Jesus described this
man as half dead. Which meant he probably looked like he was very dead.
It may have taken a close inspection to see if he was still breathing,
in order to decide whether he was really alive or not. It might also
be considered that these two men, being religious (Christian), thought
of “ceremonial uncleanness”—that it would interrupt
their lives if they touched him and then found he really was dead. It
would be a serious problem for them. They could not then go and minister!
They were almost all the way down to Jericho and they needed to preach
the next morning! Maybe they thought, “I just cannot afford to
get my hands involved in this because, not only will it mess me up in
terms of not being able to preach and be involved, but it will cost
me, also. I’m going to be grounded for 2 or 3 days, having to
be outside, pay money for sacrifices, etc. Oy Vey! I guess I’ll
just pass on by! I’m too busy.”
From the way this parable is set up for the lawyer, Jesus seems to
be asking, How would you love yourself? How would you love this Jewish
man, if it were you? “A certain man” is a phrase that can
mean anybody. How would we respond? We could give all kinds of excuses!
We could start a committee. Or we could start a fund so that we could
have a 911 number down there. One could get all these nice ideas, but
the real issue may never get met … the real need never be ministered
to. Probably one hundred good excuses could roll through the minds of
these men at any one particular time as they walked past this half dead
man, producing yet greater degrees of hardness, callousness and insensitivity
in the heart. These two men were distracted and crowded with an over-busy
life. In our day, we deal with that same thing, do we not? This would
just disrupt our schedule, too. And this hardening of the senses, leading
to a diminishing awareness of personal obligation, would cause us not
to even see it after a while. We would not even see it! God help us
if we ever get to that particular place.
“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was:
and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and
bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own
beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow
when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host,
and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more,
when I come again, I will repay thee.”—Luke 10:33
This Samaritan was moved with compassion. He had the spirit of Christ
in him. This “half-breed” man whom the Jews disdained, risked
not only walking down a road that ran right through the middle of the
Jews’ territory, but he saw this man as “neighbor.”
He saw him as he would have seen himself. He may have thought, “If
I was traveling alone, this could have happened to me. I could have
been the one lying there half dead and very helpless, sure to die if
left unattended.” And he went to him, bound up his wounds, pouring
in oil and wine. He set him on his beast, brought him to an inn and
took care of him. “And on the morrow …” Jesus describes
this Samaritan as showing himself to be really committed to what he
was doing for this man—at least a day’s worth, spending
a night, paying for their lodging, etc. He took out his money, paid
what was owed, and promised to come back and pay up whatever else was
needed. He did not set limits on his help, but left it open-ended.
This Samaritan gave actual help to meet the actual need. We can talk
about it. We can preach it. We can discuss it. We can memorize Scriptures
about it. We can come to a conviction on it. But doing it is such a
challenging and provoking thought. Remember in Matt. 7:24 Jesus ended
the Sermon on the Mount with just that issue: Those who hear His word
and do it. They build upon a solid rock, and no matter what comes at
them, their house will not be shaken. But those who hear His word and
do not do it, they are foolish builders. Their house will come down
suddenly, quickly, and everything in it will be destroyed: their family,
their life, their career, their heritage—everything they stood
for! It will become a waste place. Hearing and doing is so pivotal in
understanding and breathing a true and living Christianity!
Now let’s look at a couple of ideas that help us to understand
the differences between these men. The Samaritan gave actual help to
actual need. He was doing the things that the law demanded. Now remember
the priest and the Levite. They were quite religious people. Yet what
did they do when they saw this kind of situation come up unexpectedly
on the trail in their life? Fear came over them. (I’m going to
get robbed, too! They’re nearby! This could be a set-up! It’s
going to throw off my whole schedule! I’ll be unclean for the
next service I’m traveling to! I won’t be there on time!)
And then cowardice comes in … fear and cowardice. On the first
few pass-bys they exercise fear and cowardice when they just walk on
by. Their own agenda is more important to them. But as time goes on,
it gets easier and easier to ignore the needs of men. Fear and cowardice
turn to indifference. (“Well, it’s not that big a deal.”)
Sometimes we drive by situations today to which we are rather indifferent.
We all see the bums hanging around begging for food, someone hitch hiking,
etc. That is not a life or death situation and is not quite the same.
But, if we do something regularly enough, we get hardened to what our
first thoughts were. The real test would come when we see a car wreck
and someone lying on the side of the road bleeding half to death. Would
we stop? Would we give them the care they needed? Would we care enough
to give the gospel to them? Would we give to them out of the abundance
of the gifts that we ourselves have been given? Unless we are watchful,
indifference rolls in until we finally deem the wounds and the poverty
of others as an intrusion into our busy life, our schedule, our self-importance.
We may even get to the point where we would rather they jump to their
death than cause our delay! As one writer put it: “Alas for the
rarity of Christian charity.”
Remember the first question the lawyer asked: “How do I inherit
eternal life?” (1 Jn. 4:19-20; Jn. 17:3) And the answer—love
the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and
love your neighbor as yourself. The Bible teaches us that if we truly
are loving God, then we will be loving our neighbor, our brother. But
if we say we love God, yet do not love our neighbor, then we are liars.
We do not really know anything about loving God if we are not loving
our neighbor.
As the demands of the law had been freshly put upon him, the lawyer
then asked the question, “Who is my neighbor?” He asked
the question because he thought he could stump Jesus. But the very fact
that he asked this question only revealed what was in his own heart—a
lack of compassion and mercy. He wanted to legally avoid his moral duty
under a chosen ignorance and a sectarian selfishness. “Well, I’m
not sure who is my neighbor. Is he Jew or Gentile?” This response
is void of Christian love. To ask the question, “Who is my neighbor?”
is condemning in itself! It is a condemnation to wonder who our neighbor
is when we come upon someone who is in a life and death situation! They
may die if we do not have mercy and compassion on them.
The answer the Lord gave to “Who is my neighbor?” summoned
this lawyer to be a man full of mercy. He was saying, in effect, “Sir,
how would you like to be treated in this particular situation? In the
hour of your need, is mercy appropriate? What would your priorities
be if it was you lying on the road half dead?”
Jesus was being asked to categorize who is my neighbor. And He places
responsibility squarely upon the lawyer and all those who are listening.
Jesus addresses the motives of men’s hearts. Is that not what
He is always interested in? “Who is my neighbor” certainly
reveals the heart of all men. True neighborliness knows no borders.
Love, mercy, and compassion can be compared to the sun and the rain.
When the rain comes down it does not see borders and just sprinkle right
up to them. It goes over all the ravines, all the fields, the streams,
the streets, the rooftops and all the rest. There is no efficiency factor.
The clouds just broadcast all that they have anywhere and everywhere.
And so when Jesus is talking about compassion and mercy in an emergency
situation on a fellow human being – it could be anybody –
He is teaching us to be generous, like our Heavenly Father is generous
to us all. He loves even the criminal, and is merciful even to those
who are unfaithful at times. (Matt. 5:45) He shows Himself near and
available. Why? Because He has made all men in the image and likeness
of Himself. And if He, the Lord, can look down and love His creatures
that way, how can we, being one of those fellow creatures, love each
other any less? This is not natural to man. We will do it with our family
members, our friends, our sectarian conference, and all the rest. But
we may not do it to the “stranger,” the one of whom we are
really not sure, especially if he is half dead and in a few more minutes
it wouldn’t make any difference anyway, or “it might contaminate
me,” or any of that kind of thing. But all those things did not
slow down the Samaritan’s spirit. True neighborliness knows no
borders.
Does nearness make you a neighbor? No. We see that some people can
live in the same place for years or decades and yet not even know those
who live nearest them. So just living near someone does not make you
a true neighbor to them. Nearness is not a factor in true neighborliness.
How about a wall? Does a wall keep you from being a neighbor? No. No
wall could ever keep you from being a neighbor … if you love your
neighbor as yourself!
So, who is my neighbor? Jesus was asked. Indirectly, He said, “At
this time, I’m not really sure who your neighbor is, but I know
this, in your life you will prove who your neighbor is. And you will
prove if you are a neighbor!” In our lifetime, in the situations
that come up, in deed and in truth we will show if we are neighbor.
It is not in word or in tongue only. It will only bring deeper condemnation
if it is just words. Life situations suddenly prove who we are in terms
of “neighbor” … in deed and in truth.
A first particular on what it means to be a “Good Samaritan”
…
The good neighbor has insight and sympathy. He is not just thinking
of himself when he is going down the road. He is really thinking about
others. Maybe we have prayed in the morning, “God, show me the
opportunities that I might be a witness for you. Like a priest. Like
a choir-leader. Like someone who opens the doors to the temple that
I might show others into Your Kingdom, Lord. I want to be that kind
of person, God. One that leads people to You, Lord.” And then
that emergency, that life or death situation presents itself, and you
are pressed in your schedule. The “life or death” situation
may not be just physical. It could be a spiritual need. We need to bring
application into that, also. If we see someone who is really under their
circumstances, someone who is really suffering, someone who may have
a tragedy going on in their home-life or they are just about ready to
explode, their countenance is fallen, etc.—can we drop what we
have going and take a few minutes to give this person a hand? To give
them mercy and compassion? To give them eternal life? To give them what
we have been given? Can we help them out of their near-death situation
into life? That they might be restored, recovered, and rejuvenated to
a reality of Life.
The Good Samaritan had insight. He was not ignorant of the needs in
the lives of those he came upon. He had some wherewithal to help that
person. He did not act selfishly, nor did he pretend that he was ignorant.
He did not excuse himself with any of those things.
A second particular on what it means to be a “Good Samaritan”
…
Secondly, there was personal service (vs. 34-35) He went to him. He
bound up his wounds. He poured in oil and wine and set him on his beast,
or put him in his car, etc. And brought him to an inn and took care
of him himself. He ministered to this needy man out of all the resources
and all the ability he had. He did not just take 5 minutes. He spent
a day at it—an afternoon, a night, and a morning. That is a lot
of investment! That is a lot of care and compassion. That is understanding
who we are in that person over there. That is my brother! That is my
sister! In the newspaper, that awful thing that happened to that woman
last night, that is my sister. That awful thing that happened to that
man in that flaming wreck, that is my brother. Do we see enough of Adam
and Christ in us that we can relate to all men? To all women?
This Samaritan gave personal service. He got involved. He laid down
his life, the idol of his time, his self-importance, and his schedule
engraved in stone. And he ministered help to this poor soul. The Samaritan
did not go after help—an ambulance, police, etc. He did not pray
about it. He did not ask permission first. He did not get approval from
the big-wigs first before he could do something to soil his hands. But
love motivated and radiated out of this man as he went to the other
man and touched him. He did not go off to the other side of the road
and pass him by.
Needy lives are all around us. Are we actually going out of our way
to minister to others as we ourselves want to be handled in our times
of need? Do we give unto others as we want to be ministered unto? If
we are not, remember 1 Cor. 13 says this is not love, but is just the
noisy gonging or clanging cymbals of knowing all these things but not
doing them. We must be willing to put our hand into our pocket and bring
up the coin of mercy, that it may be passed on into the hand of the
needy person, that they might do with it according to their need. That
is called giving. That is the oil of mercy, the wine of love that is
poured into a humbler flask. And that is what we, as true saints, are
called to do. You that are rich in faith, give to the poor. You that
are rich and increased with much concerning the Lord, give to those
who have need. Be light and salt, Jesus said. You now are the light
of the world, the salt of the earth. Go! Do not hide it! Give it! Let
it radiate out. What is the church to be? A radiating light—by
life and by lip, by deed and by declaration, by person and by proclamation,
a radiating light in society’s darkness and death. That is what
the church is supposed to be. We cannot just sit as a city on a hill,
knowing we are supposed to be light, but have no light coming out of
us! Or be a lamp upon a lamp stand with no light coming out! What is
that light supposed to be? The light of Christ—revealing need,
chasing darkness away, revealing where the wounds really are, the stumbling
blocks, that they might be dealt with. That is our job, brethren! We
are not just here to live as ‘Gentiles’ live, but to live
as Christ lived!
This Samaritan half-breed counted it all joy in giving, caring, helping,
spending time and money. He was actively sowing mercy into this man.
When the hour of this man’s judgment comes, what do you think
he is going to receive? “Blessed are the merciful, for (only)
they shall receive mercy.”
A third particular on what it means to be a “Good Samaritan”
…
The Samaritan gave a thorough service. He did not just give a quick
dab, a wink and a promise. Not just a band-aid, but a full effort. He
exhausted his resources, his knowledge, and his ability. And then he
came back and followed up on his care! It reminds us of the Great Commission!
How many people only receive a lick and a promise? “Just say the
sinner’s prayer. Just believe and Jesus will forgive you. Now
you are a Christian. Sign this card. Walk the aisle. Go to the inquiry
room. Just sit on the pew every week.” That is just a lick and
a dab. But our “co-mission” with Christ is to go and teach
all men to keep, to do, His commandments. “… to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (Matt. 28:19-20)
Go … teach … baptize … teach. This means discipleship.
It takes time. It takes investment into people’s lives, and follow-up
on who they are as children of God in the local nurturing center—the
local church. If we are not involving ourselves with those who are coming
to the Lord, why are we out there doing things that make them believe
we may have something when we are not really available? Why are we doing
the quick fix, pretending that everything will be okay all by itself
without any real involvement by the church? Maybe that is why the church
has such a poor reputation today. The Great Commission is not just to
jump start nor give a quick fix. It is a mandate to teach all nations,
all men, to observe all the commandments of Christ Jesus and to stand
steadfast in the Lord! To walk uprightly! In good health! Give as it
has been given to you—overflowing, pressed down, shaken together,
given without measure. For as we measure it out to others, it will be
measured unto us in return.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap … and let us not be weary in well doing:
for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore
opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are
of the household of faith.”—Gal. 6:7, 9-10
After telling His parable, Jesus now turns to the lawyer and says,
“Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him
that fell among the thieves? And [the lawyer] said, “He that showed
mercy on him.”—Luke 10:36-37a
The lawyer was probably biting his tongue to admit this, but all the
eyes and ears of those who had heard Jesus’ parable were now looking
at him. They must have been thinking, “Now what is he going to
say after that parable?” The only obvious conclusion was, he that
showed mercy.
“Then said Jesus unto him, “Go, and do thou likewise.”—Luke
10:37b
Continue going and continue doing likewise is the literal meaning
of this verb ‘go’. And that is exactly what Jesus had said
in verse 28. “You answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”
“This do” is our right response. We have the great blessing
of understanding the Word. We have the Abrahamic covenant. We have all
things unto life and godliness and all of God’s precious promises,
that through these we might abide in His precious nature and character
eternally. (2 Peter 1:3-4) We have all of our sin wiped away and eternal
life in our hands—every blessing on earth in heaven in Christ!
We are rich! Now give to the poor!
A spiritual application …
Now ... Who is this lawyer? A first-class, Grade A hypocrite. He could
be one who is a hyper-Calvinist. Meaning he wanted someone in his legal
organization to tell him who he could be kind to and who not to be kind
to. He did not want to determine that by the Holy Spirit! He wanted
someone to define it, to tell him where the lines were, so that he would
not have to determine it for himself. He wanted to know who the elect
were, so that he could just deal with them, very exclusively.
He could also be the man who is hyper-Protestant. He would want the
leadership to tell him who his neighbors are and to ignore those who
were not the ones that he should spend time with.
He may be the hyper-Catholic—he who would salute a pope and
get permission from him, that he might know who to associate with and
help as a neighbor.
He is the one who is hyper-anything, any of the modern-type movements
going on—religious people who want somebody else to tell them
what they are supposed to do rather than follow the Scriptures and the
leading of the Holy Spirit within them. It is an abuse of spiritual
power when we have to go to a man to determine what the Holy Spirit
in our own hearts is saying to each of us. But that puts personal responsibility
on us! Should we leave out the very Holy Spirit that God has given to
us, who alone can lead us into all the truth? Who alone bears witness
to the truth? We can see what happens when men get “religious”
(hyper-whatever). They get “hyper” out-of-order! And the
Holy Spirit is totally excised out of the picture, while men decide
for themselves what they need to be doing, according to their own agenda.
That is what this whole parable is about. Those who had much learning—lawyers,
teachers, Scribes, Pharisees—did not do what they were supposed
to do. They passed by on the other side of the road. And if they could
not do it, with all of their teaching and all of their divinings and
delineations and legal distinctions between what a stranger is and what
a neighbor is, if they could not do what the law demanded of every man,
then it is plain that we do need the Holy Spirit to lead us. And when
we have the Holy Spirit of God leading us, then we must obey. Otherwise,
it is certain disobedience. The obedience of faith is the Law of Love.
So … Who is my neighbor? Is it just my family? My tribal heritage?
My synagogue or sect? My village? Is it just my conference in which
I have agreement upon Biblical distinctives? Jesus’ teaching lets
us know that in our life situations we will see who proves to be neighbor.
And who proves to be neighbor? He who has mercy upon others. That is
what we hear in this whole teaching—we need more mercy and more
compassion upon those in need.
Now, let us look at what ties this all together. Who is this half-breed?
We have looked at who the lawyer is, who this victim is, who is neighbor,
etc. But who is this half-breed Samaritan fellow? Could He be Jesus?
Jesus, the half-breed of half-breeds, very God and now very man, came
down from heaven to deal with everyone who was mostly dead. He came
down to deal with man and to help him. Oh, what a beautiful picture
He was weaving for those who had ears to hear and eyes to see that He
was talking about Himself and the great need that all men have! He was
speaking about how He came to give rest to the broken and ripped apart
spirits, the broken hearts and bodies devastated by the fallen world
and whatever circumstances life had imposed upon them through injustice
or from their own callousness and willfulness to sin. He came down to
bestow a clear understanding of who God the Father is and to bring men
to know Him as Father—not just legal God, but Father. He brought
understanding of justification by the blood of a Lamb. He came to restore
immortality, to give eternal life, paying the price, covering the wounds
… and by His stripes we are healed—eternally. The Greatest
Healer has come. He cared for us when we were half dead, all the way
down at the bottom. God cannot bring anyone to Himself until they are
out of their own resources, out of gas, fully exposed, naked and ashamed,
wounded, crying out, nowhere else to go. He will then come in and save
us. We are so self-sufficient, so proud, that God lets us reduce ourselves
to beggars, truly begging for Christ. Blessed are the beggars, the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who
mourn—for their sinful ways—for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (Matt. 5:3-4,
7) This is the “Samaritan spirit” that Jesus was teaching
about, that half-breed spirit. He did not see Himself as half-God and
half-man. He saw a creature just like Himself that He had made in creation.
He said, “I need to help this one.” And if Jesus could help
him, having come down from heaven, how about those of us who walk on
the earth, born of the same flesh and blood as anybody else? Do we have
this Christ-like compassion? That is what this Samaritan spirit really
is, as Jesus speaks it in this parable. When impulse and ideas are transcended
into the better language of obedient faith—of deeds, not just
words—the spirit of the Samaritan does not come by accident or
chance. No. It is solid invocation of obedience in readiness, habitually.
Unless we are working at something all the time, we are not going to
do it when the test comes. When those sudden testings come—and
they will come—what will be revealed about our true character?
Our response will determine what set of character qualities is in us—whether
we have eternal life or selfish life. And if we know Christ, we will
be looking for opportunities to give life. We will remember how dead
we once were and how good eternal life is! We will not just be religious.
We will not just be of the attitude that says, “Well, I’m
saved. That’s it.” No. We will truly understand what it
means to give what we have been given.
It cost Jesus His life. He spilled blood that we might have His life.
The religious person only passes by on the other side. He does not demonstrate
his faith. When true faith, in relationship with Christ, is working,
then neighborliness is not lost. It is being manifested in ministering
to a fallen world. It is alive to truth. It is making provision in a
busy schedule to be ministers of life. If we are priests and kings unto
the Lord God Almighty, we are going to be doing those things, not just
thinking about them, not just praying about it, not just studying them,
not just memorizing Scripture about it, not just writing books about
it. We will be actively looking at Jesus (the half-breed, the Good Samaritan),
who helped us when He walked on the world’s dark side and died
for our sin, suffering for the victims of robbery and death. He took
our sin upon Himself so that we might have life and that more abundantly.
There are many “believers” today who are not regenerate
believers. They are actually degenerate! But if we are truly regenerate
believers, the resurrected life of true saints will show itself in the
giving of new life to others. We will be looking for those opportunities.
We will be factoring them into our lives because we know that is what
we have been called to do.
In closing, let us look at Hosea 6:6,
“For I desire mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God
more than burnt offerings. But they, like men, have transgressed the
covenant and there have they dealt treacherously against Me.”
We deal treacherously against God, whose image is in all men, when
we do not help when we are able to give help. And as Malachi 2:2-3 says,
God will turn our blessings into curses. He will curse our blessings.
He has done it to Israel. He has done it to generations of people before.
There is no reason that God would change now if we who have been given
so much do so little.
“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful,
and hating one another. But after that the kindness of God our Savior
toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by His grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful
saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they
which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.
These things are good and profitable unto men.”—Titus 3:3-8
True Neighborliness …
“For I was hungry, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye
gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: naked, and ye clothed
Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me. Then shall the righteous answer
Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, and fed Thee? Or thirsty,
and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in?
or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison,
and came unto Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily
I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of
these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” —Matt. 25:35-40
