DEFINING NEIGHBOR !
Luke 10: 30-37
03/23/2014
Just a few years ago, an astonishing thing happened in New York City. A construction worker named Wesley Autrey was standing on a subway platform with his two young daughters waiting on a train. Suddenly another man on the platform, apparently suffering from a seizure, stumbled and fell off the platform down onto the subway tracks. Just at that moment the headlights of a rapidly approaching train appeared in the subway tunnel.
Acting quickly, and with no thought for
himself, Wesley Autrey jumped down onto the tracks to rescue the stricken man
by dragging him out of the way of the train. But he immediately realized that
the train was coming too fast and there wasn’t time to pull the man off the
tracks. So Wesley pressed the man into the hollowed-out space between the rails
and spread his own body over him to protect him as the train passed over the
two of them. The train cleared Wesley by mere inches, coming close enough to
leave grease marks on his knit cap. When the train came to a halt, Wesley
called up to the frightened onlookers on the platform. "There are two
little girls up there. Let them know their Daddy is OK."
What Wesley had done was a remarkable
deed of concern for another person. He had no obvious reason to help this
stranger. He didn’t know the man. He had his young daughters to think about.
What he did was at severe risk to his own life. But a human being was in
desperate need, and Wesley saw it and, moved with compassion, did what he could
to save him. "The Subway Superman"--that’s what the press called him,
the "Harlem Hero." But the headline in one newspaper described Wesley
Autrey in biblical terms. It read, "Good Samaritan Saves Man on Subway
Tracks.
Whenever there is someone who acts
selflessly and courageously and rescues someone who is in danger we call them
“a Good Samaritan” The media applauds them and they become instant celebrities.
But people like Wesley Autrey remain humble and say that, “they just did the
right thing.” There are even “Good Samaritan Laws” to give legal protection to
people who give reasonable assistance to those who are injured, ill, or in
danger. Where did we get this Good Samaritan concept? Let’s look at where this
story is found in the Bible. Luke 10:30-37
Background: During a debriefing time with his
seventy disciples who had returned from an exciting ministry of signs and
wonders a certain lawyer in the crowed wanted to test Jesus and probably show off
his knowledge of the Law so he asked, “Teacher what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? This was a good question. Jesus answered him with a question;
what is written in the law and how do you read it? Just like any ardent student
of the law he answered, “You shall 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
you your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus complemented him for his knowledge
and said, “you have answered correctly do this and you will live.” That is to
emphasize the fact that merely the knowledge of the law does not save anyone
but believing it and even more so obeying it can save people. The theme of
loving God’s people runs deep in the pages of the Bible. One of the ways we can
express our love for God is by loving our neighbors. Isn’t that what the
essence of the Gospel all about? Our entire Christian faith hinges on only two
pillars and they are loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and
loving our neighbor as ourselves. In other words we put ourselves in the shoes
of those who are in need and try to identify with their suffering and doing any
and everything possible to help alleviate their pain and discomfort.
The lawyer thought he could outsmart
Jesus so he asked, who is my neighbor? He secretly may have hoped that Jesus
would show one of his kind as his neighbor. For the Jews loving their neighbors
could only go as far as their own nation and religion. They never considered Gentiles
as their neighbors. If they saw a gentile in danger of death, they thought
themselves under no obligation to help to save his life. Jesus wanted to
correct this wrong notion so he told a parable.
A certain man was going down from
Jerusalem to Jericho. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho has changed little
since the first century. Accessible by foot or horseback, it is approximately
eighteen to twenty miles distance. It is a rocky and rugged route and one can
expect to make about three miles an hour. The decent is very rapid, nearly four
thousand feet from the Mount of Olives to the Jordan valley below. There are
many ascents as well along the way increasing the sharpness of the slope and
additional hazards to the journey down the mountain.
About halfway there is a huge boulder
affording a very convenient place for robbers to lie in wait. There are also
many other places to hide along this lonely road earning its reputation as the
"Way of Blood." Jesus knew this and somewhere on this narrow trail we
are given the setting for the story of the Good Samaritan.
The scripture tell us “A certain Man” we
do not know his ethnicity, and family background. All we know is that he was
going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He must have been a Jewish man. Somewhere
along the path, thieves waited in hiding. He had little to offer for all they
took was his clothing. Two religious people a Priest and a Levite happened to
pass by them. Extending no compassion toward the agony and the destitute
condition of their fellowman, each crossed to the other side and continued on
their way.
Why did the Priest and the Levite not
stop to help the man? We could list several reasons why, Martin Luther King in
one of his speeches gives a more plausible explanation in regards to why they
did not stop to help the poor wounded man. “It’s possible that the priest and
the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were
still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was
merely faking, and he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt in order to
seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure.
And so the first question that the Priest
and the Levite asked was, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’
“But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question: ‘If I do
not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”[1]
We all can be guilty of asking the first
question out of fear for our own lives when it comes to helping someone in
danger. I am for one missed a few such opportunities, thinking that I was
married and have three children and what would happen to me and to them if I
would stop to help someone who was in danger?
In our story the Samaritan seemed to
have none of those concerns or fears. All he saw was a near to death Jewish man,
and moved with compassion did what the Priest and the Levite had failed to do. For
the lack of a better word he gave “First Aid” He bandaged the wounds with his
own linen. He poured on oil and wine; wine to wash the wound and oil to sooth
it and close it up. He put the man on his own donkey and brought him to the inn.
He put his personal business away for a while and took care of that man that
night as if he was one of his very own.
The next day he left some money with the
landlord and undertook to repay what was spent beyond those two silver coins
which shows that he was genuinely concerned over his full recovery and total well being. All this kindness and generosity one could have expected from a
friend or a brother; and yet here it is done by a total stranger, that too a
Samaritan. After listening to this story the so called expert in the law had
nothing else to say or ask Jesus. So Jesus asked him this time another
question, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell
into the hands of robbers? The expert replied; “the one who had mercy on
him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do
likewise.” Interestingly Jesus emphasized “doing” two times to show where God
lies his emphasis more. The Priest, and the Levite seemed to have religious
appearance and have known the law in and out but whereas the Samaritan man put
into action whatever little he has known which is to help those who are in need
What is the practical application of
this story? Let’s consider we that we all in our un-regenerated life were like
the man who fell in the hands of the robbers. Our sin infested lifestyle has
robbed us of our joy, relationships, health, and our very life itself. We were
struck by the devil and left half dead. But thankfully on that road walked
Jesus the Good Samaritan; He saw our pitiful condition, came near to us; picked
us up, washed our wounds, and healed our sin and left us in the care of the
steward (the Holy Spirit) so that we will be fully healed and recovered.
Jesus is asking us today since you have
received mercy now do likewise and give mercy to the undeserving. How do we do
it? By reaching out in practical ways to our neighbors; (anyone who is in need
of help), by being there for people when they need us. By being tender to those
who are hurting. By being patient with those who are struggling. I pray that
God will give us grace so that we will exemplify the attitude of the Good
Samaritan toward those in need without respect for gender, race, ethnicity, wealth
or standing in the community. Amen
[1]
http://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2012/04/why-didnt-they-stop-martin-luther-king-jr-on-the-parable-of-the-good-samaritan/
