In
Luke chapter ten Jesus told a story that we all know so very well, the story of
the Good Samaritan.
It
was about a man. We know nothing about him except that he foolishly traveled
from Jerusalem down to Jericho alone. Not a good idea! I have been
on that road and it is still not a good idea. From Jerusalem
to Jericho is a
distance of about twenty miles and a drop in elevation of about 26,000 feet.
The road follows a twisting path of flash flood water carved canyons with
plenty of places for robbers to hide in ambush. A man traveling alone was easy
pickings for those thieves.
Beaten,
robbed of everything and left for dead he perhaps saw a priest approach and
though help had arrived. The priest moved to the other side of the road to
avoid contact and passed on by. Why would he do that? Perhaps he was on his way
to serve his day in the Temple
after 30 days of purification. To touch blood would disqualify him and he would
loose out.
The
second man to come along was a Levite who was a member of the tribe that
produced priest but he did not serve as a priest. Perhaps he was a musician who
also had to purify themselves to serve in the temple. The wounded my thought
surly this man will help me. However he also went out of his way to pass by the
wounded man. Perhaps both men had a high regard for them selves and didn’t want
to be bothered. Imagine what the wounded man thought as two men of God passed
him by and went on their way.
Jesus
then told of a third man and this was a shock for everyone listing to the parable.
The man was a hated Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans were both Israelites but
they hated each other. When the Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the
Assyrians small groups escaped into the hills and later became know as the
Samaritans. Judah and Israel
had fought for hundreds of years and hated each other. The hate has yet to die.
To
everyone’s shock it was the Samaritan who stopped and helped the wounded man
and went the extra to see that he was cared for. Jesus then asked the man who
questioned him, “Who was this man’s neighbor?”
The
Jewish lawyer could not even say the word Samaritan. He could only say, “The one who had mercy on him.” Often
the neighbor we are to love turns out to be someone we can’t stand. It is so
hard to enter into eternal life when hatred keeps you soul bound tight. Hate is
like an acid that eats the heart that contains it.
In
the mid sixties a preacher in Georgia
placed this story in Atlanta
and a white man had been beaten, robbed and left for dead. First a white Baptist
preacher passed by and then a white Methodist preacher also passed by. The one
playing the part of the Good Samaritan was a black share cropper. The story was
still shocking and that Georgia
preacher received death threats for telling it that way.
Today
we might place the story in New York
and have the good Samaritan played by a Muslim.
Our charge today is to go be that good neighbor no matter who that
neighbor is. Remember God love all of his creation regardless of their color,
religion, or national origin.
If
you have a problem with this go read Luke 10 and then have a little talk with
Jesus and see if you can get Him to change His mind.
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