10:30
Jesus now tells the parable, and we need to remember that He is telling this parable not in answer to a question of “how can I be saved”, but in answer to “who is my neighbour”. The man in the parable is probably Jewish, though this is not explicitly stated. The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho was seventeen miles, and involved a descent from 2,500 feet above sea level, to 800 feet below. The road took you through rock country, ideal country for thieves. The man was beaten up, stripped naked and left half-dead.
10:31-33
A priest and a Levite came by. Both of these are religious figures, people considered to be of good standing, both with men and with God. Both, rather than going to see if they could help the man, passed by on the other side. Why did they do this? Quite possibly because of concerns about ritual purity, especially if the man actually was dead as this would render them ceremonially unclean. Maybe because they didn’t want to be distracted from their plans for the day, maybe because they didn’t think they would be able to help, or didn’t want to help even if they could. Now this parable has not be given to us so that we can sit in judgement on priests and Levites, it has been given to us so that we can examine our own attitudes. For we too often pass by on the other side, and for a multitude of reasons.
Thirdly, the famous Samaritan then come along and he takes pity on the man. Now there was great enmity between Samaritans and Jews, going back centuries.
10:34,35
The Samaritan did everything he could to take care of the man. He dressed his wounds, then took him to an inn and provided for him. Two denarii is two days wages and would be more than ample for the innkeeper to look after him.
10:36,37
Jesus then asks the man who he thinks was a neighbour to the man who fell among thieves, and of course there is only one answer to this: the Samaritan. Jesus then tells him to go and do likewise. Notice that the lawyer had asked “who is my neighbour”, Jesus did not answer this question, but told him how to be a good neighbour. When we have a legalistic mindset we focus on what we have to do, what we can get away with, and how can we justify ourselves. In truth none of us can meet God’s standards. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). We need to come to Christ seeking mercy, seeking forgiveness. We are then free to live by grace, free to love others. Not so we can prove anything, but so that more and more of the life of Christ is manifest in us.
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