31 Now
by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by
on the other side. 32 So
likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the
other side. 33 But a Samaritan,
as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 He
went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him
on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two
denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever
more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
36 Which
of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among
the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one
who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
When we look at our
lives, how do you think we compare in Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan?
A lot of times, we look at this story and we do imagine
ourselves as the Good Samaritan because we actually have within us the desire
to help people. However, if we are
honest, and we look at our day to day actions, a lot of times we find ourselves
as the priest or the Levite.
Notice that Jesus mentions the religious people before he mentions
the Samaritan. I feel like that the order
is important. Let’s look at what a
priest, Levite and Samaritan is.
PRIESTS in the Old Testament
- The direct descendants of Aaron
- highest of Jewish officials
- the priests received the parts of the offerings not consumed by sacrifice, the firstlings of flock and herd, and a tithe of the levitical tithes
- Teaching
- Anointed kings
- Spoke to soldiers before battle
LEVITES in the Old Testament
- Descendents of Gershon, Kohath and Merari
- Levites were dedicated to an auxiliary ministry for the priests, especially in regard to the manual labor of caring for the tabernacle
- Transported and guarded the tabernacle
- Assisted in worship at the temple
- the Levites were supported by the tithes of the people
- the Levites had permission to reside in forty-eight cities set aside for their use. Surrounding each city an area of pasture-land was marked off for them.
- The Levities were scattered in these cities to keep the knowledge and service of God alive.
SAMARITANS in the Old Testament
- Regarded by Jews as neither fully Gentile nor fully Jewish
- Their name was a term of contempt among the Jews. Jesus was called a Samaritan and a blasphemer at His trial
- Samaritans were considered apostate to the Jews because while they observed the Torah strictly, they believed they were bearers of the true faith of ancient Israel which contradicted Jewish teaching.
The
order is important in which Jesus mentions the type of people: the priest, the Levite and the
Samaritan. Jesus first lists the person
who knew the law the most, (the Priest), then the Levite who would be the
second most aware person to honor God’s law because Levites serve in the
temple, they are in the community, continuing to make people aware of God’s law
and finally, the good Samaritan is listed.
The Samaritan’s theology isn’t quite right and there are times in their
past where they opposed the Jews, but this Samaritan, also someone who follows
God’s law, is considered an outcast.
However, he chooses to love his neighbor.
So
how does this apply to us? We respond as
a church culture with an expectation. If
someone has a problem, we normally refer them to the pastor, or the staff, the
deacon, or even someone who is involved with a ministry. While this isn’t always a bad thing,
sometimes what we do, if I speak in terms of the parable, we point people to
the priest (the pastor), or the Levite (church staff, ministry leaders, etc.)
to help them. We believe the job of
service belongs to the religious leaders or those who get paid, but what I believe Jesus
is showing us here, is that it really is our job too. Sometimes, religious leaders will miss the
mark and everyday people who choose to make a difference for the sake of
someone else, reaping the spiritual benefits of making a difference for others.
As
Christians, we can learn and debate Scripture, trying to pinpoint the time of
the Rapture or arguing about predestination, and we can get caught up in the
religious aspect of who we are. We can
be asked by others to pray, serve God in certain roles in the congregation, but
miss opportunities to make a difference to the lost. We just walk on by. When we truly see the role of priests,
Levites and Samaritans, it’s not too hard to see ourselves in any of these
people if we are honest.
The
bottom line is, are we willing to let God teach us through service? It’s not going to always be easy. There is risk involved; you may lose time or
money; you may find yourself not having the words, but many times, we gain more
from making a difference in someone’s life than it ever really costs us to do
so. God shows us His heart when we
choose to make a difference.
When
you forgive someone, when you give hope to the hopeless by your intervention,
you reflect the very actions of the Cross.
You forgive because you were forgiven.
You bring hope to the hopeless because God gave you hope in the first
place. You rescue because you were
rescued. When you invest in someone’s
life, it’s because God first invested in you.
You are demonstrating the very nature of grace given to you by Jesus
Himself.
Matthew
5:16 [ESV]
In
the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your
good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
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