Creator, Father, King #203

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

HAS ANYONE EVER PESTERED you with lots of questions? Well, Jesus knows the feeling. The Jewish religious leaders were constantly interrogating him and challenging his authority out of fear, jealousy, anger, and disbelief.

One day, a lawyer tested Jesus about how Jews could inherit eternal life. The conversation quickly turned to Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18: loving God and loving your neighbor. Insincerely, the lawyer responded, “And who is my neighbor?” Clearly, the man cared less about true love and more about putting limits around whom he had to distribute it to.

So Jesus told him the famous parable of the Good Samaritan. (You can read the whole story in Luke 10:25-37.)

In Jesus’ parable, bandits robbed a Jewish man and left him badly wounded on the roadside. A priest and a Levite—two men who served in God’s Temple—callously walked by their fellow countryman without showing mercy. Finally, a traveling Samaritan approached the man. Moved with compassion, the Samaritan bandaged the man’s wounds, took him to the nearest inn, and paid for his care until he was restored to full health.

What’s It Mean?

In this parable, Jesus condemned the current religious establishment of his day (represented by the priest and the Levite), which had largely abandoned true worship of God for a man-centered, works-based system. But he also wanted to draw attention to God’s definition of “neighbor” and what true biblical love looks like.

By Jesus’ day, the Jews and Samaritans had a nearly eight-hundred-year history of hatred toward each other. Yet through this parable and on other occasions (e.g., Matthew 15:21-28; Luke 7:1-10; Luke 17:11-19; John 4:1-45), Jesus showed that God’s love extends to—and through—people of all races, nationalities, and skin colors.

Our natural instinct is to gravitate toward those similar to us. But this parable’s message is clear: in a lost, hurting world, we must be ready to show God’s compassionate love to others, regardless of any differences.

Every person is made in God’s image. In God’s economy, everyone you meet is your neighbor. Everyone you encounter, especially those in need, should feel God’s compassionate care through you.

The Good Samaritan isn’t just a character in an ancient parable. By God’s grace, he’s someone you can be to others today!

Now What?

Read Ephesians 2:11-22 to learn more about our racial and spiritual unity through Christ.

Did You Know?

Samaritans were descendants of interracial marriages between Jews and Gentiles who had been resettled into Samaria after Assyria conquered Israel in 722 BC.