Luke 10:25-37
The terms "scribe" and "lawyer" sometimes referred to the same person. A lawyer was a teacher of the law of Moses. Many of them were concerned with arguing the fine points of the law, but were unconcerned about practicing what they taught others.
10:25 "And a lawyer stood up and put Him [Jesus] to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'"
Jesus: "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?"
Lawyer: "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 your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus: "You have answered correctly; Do this and you will live."
Lawyer (wishing to justify himself): "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus answers the lawyer's question by telling him the parable of the good Samaritan (10:30-37).
Background
The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho is about 18 miles. In that relatively short distance, that altitude drops from about 2500 feet above sea level (a little higher than the highest point in Alabama) at Jerusalem to about 800 feet BELOW sea level at Jericho, near the north end of the Dead Sea. Two miles out of Jerusalem lay the village of Bethany, then the rest of the road passed through winding ravines and mountain passes. The area was a common hideout for bands of thieves who would often attack and rob travelers.
The traveler from Jerusalem was beaten and robbed by a band of thieves, wounded, and left half dead. Here was a man in great trouble and unable to help himself at this moment.
Two men that held important religious roles and titles within the Jews, a Priest and a Levite, saw the man in trouble, and passed by on the other side of the road.
But then a Samaritan came upon the man, saw him, and "felt compassion."
Read John 4:9. This gives a little insight into the fact that the Jewish lawyer listening to Jesus tell this parable would have been shocked to hear Jesus use a Samaritan as the hero of his story (read at the bottom for further explanation of why Jews typically had no dealings with Samaritans).
The Samaritan having felt compassion for the man bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and put the man on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. He then gave the innkeeper two denarii (two day's wages which was a great sacrifice) and told the innkeeper whatever more you spend I will repay you when I return.
Jesus then asks the Lawyer: "Which of these three (Priest, Levite, Samaritan) do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"
Lawyer: "The one who showed mercy toward him."
Jesus: "Go and do the same."
Lessons
1. Practical Religion
In Matthew 23:1-4, Jesus spoke of the scribes and Pharisees sitting in Moses' seat as teachers of the law, but being unwilling to practice what they taught others that they must do. Jesus said of them, "they say and do not."
It is not enough to know what the will of God is, we must also put it into practice. The lawyer knew what the law said about loving one's neighbor as one's self, but he did not practice it.
2. Personal Responsibility
The Samaritan did not go and try to appropriate some money to help the man in trouble. This was his opportunity and his responsibility. He had compassion. He poured oil and wine from his own supply. He bound up the wounds. He set the man on his own beast. He paid the innkeeper and assumed responsibility for any additional expense.
This was not an example of the church relieving a needy man. The church had not yet been established. It was simply a case of one man meeting his personal responsibility to a fellowman who was in great need. We must be careful not to shirk personal responsibility by putting it off on another person or group of people.
3. Glorifying God
God is glorified when the church ( the body of Christ ) does the work God gave it do. But God is also glorified when each Christian does good in his personal life. "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples" (John 15:8).
Conclusion
Where are you?
Like the lawyer, wishing to test Jesus? If so, good. But I ask that you do it with an open and honest heart. If you will seek truth honestly you will come to light for the truth does not reside in darkness, but rather in the light where it is and where it will always remain.
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Further explanation of why the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans:
In some ways, it dated all the way back to the days of the patriarchs. Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons, whose descendants became the twelve tribes. Joseph, his favorite, was despised by the other brothers (Gen. 37:3-4), and they attempted to do away with him.
But God intervened and not only preserved Joseph’s life, but used him to preserve the lives of the entire family. Before his death, Jacob gave Joseph a blessing in which he called him a “fruitful bough by a well” (Gen. 49:22). The blessing was fulfilled, as the territory allotted to the tribes of Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim (“doubly fruitful”) and Manasseh, was the fertile land that eventually became Samaria.
Later, Israel divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom, called Israel, established its capital first at Shechem, a revered site in Jewish history, and later at the hilltop city of Samaria.
In 722 B.C. Assyria conquered Israel and took most of its people into captivity. The invaders then brought in Gentile colonists “from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim” (2 Kin. 17:24) to resettle the land. The foreigners brought with them their pagan idols, which the remaining Jews began to worship alongside the God of Israel (2 Kin. 17:29-41). Intermarriages also took place (Ezra 9:1-10:44;Neh. 13:23-28 ).
Meanwhile, the southern kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon in 600 B.C. Its people, too, were carried off into captivity. But 70 years later, a remnant of 43,000 was permitted to return and rebuild Jerusalem. The people who now inhabited the former northern kingdom—the Samaritans—vigorously opposed the repatriation and tried to undermine the attempt to reestablish the nation. For their part, the full-blooded, monotheistic Jews detested the mixed marriages and worship of their northern cousins. So walls of bitterness were erected on both sides and did nothing but harden for the next 550 years.