"A Samaritan Hero"
Jesus replied with a story: "A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. (Luke 10:30 NLT)
My friend Brandon Barnard preached on this parable in 1999. I've never forgotten the truths he brought out from this passage.
Everyone embodies one of the attitudes that's found in this passage. Which one are we?
The thieves had the attitude of what's yours is mine. They took this man's things & almost took his life. They robbed him, beat him, & left him for dead. Similarly, we have this attitude when we use people. We see people as a means to an end instead of as people. We use people to get something from them rather than serve & love them.
The second attitude is that of the religious leaders. They have the attitude of what's mine is mine. Harmless right? They are not out to harm the man but they don't want to help him either. To do so would be to break the ceremonial rules. They love the rules more than the man. This is what religion does. And the religious ignore the man, even willing to let him die while probably on their way to worship.
We may not be out to harm others but do we ignore them? We aren't violent towards people but we also aren't giving. We keep to ourselves & are content with where we are. Is this group any better than the first? There is little difference according to Jesus.
The third group we see is really just one man. A Samaritan enters the story. And not only enters it, he is the hero! This is unthinkable. Just a few verses around this passage we see that the religious leaders called Jesus a demon possessed Samaritan. That's the worst insult they could give. And Jesus makes not the religious or the Jews the hero but a Samaritan. We know this stings because the man at the end when asked who was a neighbor to the man, he does not respond with "the Samaritan" but rather "the one who showed him mercy." He couldn't even say Samaritan!
The Samaritan embodies the attitude of what's mine is yours. My time, money, help, sacrifice, etc. Whatever you need & whatever it takes, you have it. He realizes the world is not about him. And this is the attitude of a true neighbor.
So who are we when it comes to others? What attitude best describes us?
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