Good Samaritan Love From Neighbors is Sweet

Racial tensions in America are a hot topic in the news and in politics today. But the truth is, before race was a political issue, God’s children have lived with ‘Love for our neighbors’ as a faith and an ethical value. In the Old Testament Law the Lord instructed His people, "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:18) If the people of this world understood this lesson, if the people of God followed this instruction of our Lord, our world would be a much better place! But, this simple commandment of love for our neighbor is difficult to follow. It is impossible for selfish and sinful people to keep this command to love others perfectly.

A scribe, or religious teacher of the law, questioned Jesus in Luke 10 about God’s commandments. When Jesus re-affirmed the commandments to love God and to love others, we are told this teacher “wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "’And who is my neighbor?’" (Luke 10:29) Self-justification is always fruitless and dangerous. Jesus responded, somewhat gently, to the religious teacher with the parable we know as “The Good Samaritan.” The lesson of the parable is obvious. Jesus hopefully got through the hard shell of self-righteousness which clouded this man’s mind.

In case you don’t know this teaching story of Jesus, you can read it in Luke 10:25-37. Nevertheless, a short synopsis of the parable relates that a Jewish man, as he traveled on the mountain road from Jerusalem down to Jericho, was beaten, robbed, and left for dead. A priest and a temple worker each passed by the man in need without helping. However, a Samaritan came to the wounded man. This Samaritan stopped at the risk that he himself might be attacked. The Samaritan man helped the wounded Jewish man as much as he could at the scene, and then paid for housing and continuing care for him.

It is helpful to know that the Jewish people looked down on Samaritans, they thought for good reason. In 922 B.C., the northern 10 tribes of Israel split from the 2 southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and from Jerusalem, the center of temple worship of the Lord. The northern tribes then crafted idols, in disobedience to the law of God, and worshiped these false gods in the city of Samaria. Later, in 722 B.C., the nation of Assyria conquered the northern tribes of Israel. They carried some of the Israelites to Assyria, and sent some Assyrians to inhabit northern Israel. The Israelites and Assyrians inter-married. The southern tribes also had their troubles with idolatry, but during Jesus’ time, the Jews hoped that they had learned their lesson and they worked hard to worship the Lord faithfully, and to keep His law. Because of the Jews’ fervor for the law, they detested the seeming apostasy of the Samaritans. There was serious racial tension.

Yet, in Jesus’ parable, it was the hated Samaritan who helped the wounded Jewish man, not his fellow Jews. So Jesus asked the teacher of the law? "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" We read in the Bible, “The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’" Therefore, “Jesus told him, "’Go and do likewise.’" (Luke 10:36-37) In other words the Samaritan treated the Jewish man as his neighbor, in spite of the fact that Samaritans suffered disdain from the Jews. In answer to the scribe’s question, Jesus teaches in this parable that everyone is our neighbor, whom we should ‘love as we love ourselves.’

A “Good Samaritan” recently helped me. The Monday after Easter, April 10, I went fishing in Orange Lake, FL, with my brother, James, who is a fellow pastor, and a leader in the church. As we were cruising very slowly out the canal into the main lake to fish, we spoke of the fact that the lake was low because of lack of rainfall recently. Then, I drove the boat onto a hidden stump. When backing up did not free the boat, I tried gently to drive forward over the stump. Gradually the boat progressed over the stump, only to THUMP stop! The stump was hollow, and the propeller of the motor lodged in the hollow of the stump. Our propeller would not turn. We tried to push off and failed. But, the fish finder said the gator and snake infested waters under the boat were 7 feet deep. We attempted chiseling with hammers and a screwdriver, but had little success.

An elderly black man and his wife steered their boat up close to us on their way out the canal to the lake, and asked if they could help us. They wanted to tow us off the stump. We did not think that would work, and it didn’t. But, for some reason the man had a tree saw with a 12’ handle attached to the side of his boat. We asked to borrow the saw, and he gave it to us, told us he was going across the lake to fish, and asked us to leave it by his truck. By this time we had called my insurance company, and they would send help with no deductible cost. We had called my brother-in-law, Mark, and he was on his way, towing his boat. While waiting, we sawed, and tried to lift the motor. Then we sawed some more and continued to try to lift the motor. We continued for quite a while. James said we were stuck for 2 hours. I think it might have been a little less than that, but not much. Finally, when Mark had driven for about an hour in our direction, as we raised the motor, the propeller popped free.

Supposedly we live in a time of racial tension, when white and black Americans are in conflict. But, I do not believe this man saw me as anything other than another human in need. I only saw him as a kind fellow fisherman. He was my Good Samaritan. The greatest “Good Samaritan” is Jesus. We are ravaged and lost because of our sin, which has led us to rebel against our Lord in disobedience. So, Jesus traveled the road from heaven, and put His life on the line in our place to rescue us. I believe that the man who helped me knows Jesus, and that knowledge moved him to this kindness and love.

I am joyfully thankful to have received the help of this kind, fellow fisherman. This man was a help to me in my time of need. I pray that Jesus has softened my heart, so that I “Love my neighbor as I love myself,” the way this man loved and helped me.