Good Samaritan?

So I've never been mugged and left on the side of the road for dead before... It is not hard to imagine it though, we do after all live in South Africa right? I have seen and heard of many incidents where a person escaped with their life because a thief desired to have their cell phone, a worthless cell phone. I guess that is why I really respect emergency care workers. They are like the modern Good Samaritans. While reading the other day, my eyes were opened to the parable of the Good Samaritan in a way like never before... I surely hope you see what I saw...

The important thing about the parable is that it was addressing a certain question, the question of Eternal Life posed by the lawyer in Luke 10: 25 "master what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" We need to read the parable in that light...

The second thing is Jesus answered and said: in verse 30 “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho (or from Limpopo to Gauteng), and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.  So Jesus gave a setting of a man representing mankind and the thieves representing the enemy, for the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10). This passage shows how mankind was heading for sure death, helpless and in need of a saviour. So who is this saviour? Let's find out in the next verses…

Verse 31 "by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side." I think Jesus here was assuring the lawyer that eternal life would not be found in the religions or leaders, hypocrites of that time… showing that they could do nothing but pass on by..

Verse 33 "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. (Jesus journeyed from heaven to earth) And when he saw him, he had compassion (for God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son).  34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ (Jesus paid the price for our revival, for we were dead but He brought us to the innkeeper, the Father and paid the price, saying it didn’t matter what it costs,  He would pay, which eventually turned out to be His life). 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbour to him who fell among the thieves?” 37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Instead of remembering the Good Samaritan as just this good-doer, let's rather see the parable as the story of redemption: that we had fallen victim to the great thief, who robbed us of everything (including our connection to God) and left us for dead; let us rather see that no religious leader or Levite could rescue us but Christ, represented in this story by the good Samaritan.

My Peace I give you - Shalom