Compassion Of The Needy

Compassion of the Needy

Read: Luke 10:25-37

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

Luke 10:36

“Let all find compassion in you.”

—St. John of the Cross

IN WORD The story of the Good Samaritan is one of Jesus’ more familiar parables. It is an illustration of surprisingly good behavior (for a Samaritan) and of surprisingly bad behavior (for priests and Levites). We use it as a useful guide for ethical action—going above and beyond the call of duty in the ways of compassion.

When we read this as a moral instruction and decide which character we ought to emulate, we naturally avoid the portrayal of the indifferent priest and Levite and want to think we are more like the Samaritan. We know in reality we have a little of both in us—some indifference tempered by compassion, or compassion tainted by indifference. We’re an unfortunate mix of all who encounter this victim.

But eventually God makes us look deeper at this practical parable and see it as a striking picture of our world. In the big picture, our race has fallen into the hands of robbers; it has been stripped, beaten, and left for half dead. We have all been ravaged by the wages of sin, and we suffer. This parable is not just a lesson on what to do, it is an illustration of what’s been done for us. We stop asking which character we ought to be and God shows us which character we really are. The answer He reveals is humbling. First and foremost, we are not the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan. We are the victim.

IN DEED Everyone who has ever really known Jesus by faith has first known helplessness. We once lay beside the road and hoped someone would stop. He did. He was our good neighbor. By God’s design, this should have been the beginning of compassion for us—we don’t just become merciful by thinking of others in need, we become merciful by experiencing mercy. When Jesus spared us, He gave us a sobering command: “Go and do likewise” (v. 37).

The Samaritan in this story looks a lot like Jesus. So should we.