The good Samaritan
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
Somebody Give God Some Praise In Here!
When I look back at my life and I think of all the goodness that God has done for me, when I look at how he changed me and then I say to myself what is this make me behave the way that I do. What Is this?
Oh I want to examine somethings in our life today
There is a cardinal rule of life that I am certain that everyone has heard at some point in their lives. But did we understood the importance of it. For some it could have just been a slogan to stick on their RV or hang on their window seal.
But for the pure at heart this catch phrase means so much more because it not just a spiritual connotation, but this is the given law of God.
Matthew 7:12 (KJV)
12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
I just want to take a minute to look at this word. What type of mindset do we possess when it comes to interacting, helping and assisting others? And not only what type of mindset but how often do we possess this particular character of treating somebody as we would want someone to treat us.
When I look at this scripture this little bitty word called all stands out to me and it says to me that when you are walking through the road of life you are going to encounter some people along way. Some may not look like you, some may not talk like you, some may not even smell like you, but when you encounter others I need you to treat them like you would want somebody to have treated you if you found yourself in the same predicament of life. You know the people I am talking about, you look at them all weird because you don’t understand how you got yourself into this predicament. All it takes is one bad break and you too could have somebody looking at you wondering did you get yourself into this predicament.
You see none of us knows what tomorrow holds or what tables of life can turn not in our favor. So the life that you are living needs to be lived with the mannerism and understanding; that I as a person need to live life and treat others as I want to be treated by others.
Why is this more than just a saying because the word of God also says this is the law? To the believers they understand that this is one of those contingent clauses engraved in the word of God, the small print in the contract. As people of God we must be respectful, considerate, understanding, we cannot afford to be judgmental under any circumstances.
Which brings me to a story in the bible called the Good Samaritan. The text is found: Luke 10:25-37
Luke 10:25-37 (KJV)
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
Look to the person next to you and say hello neighbor.
For some of us we have a hard time understanding who our neighbor is; it has nothing to do with the color of your skin or the neighborhood you grew up in. Your neighbor is the man or woman walking down the street next to you, the one you past on the highway of life. The one you look at when you shake your head in despair. This is your neighbor.
People have a tendency to try and find excuses for why they can’t help somebody, or why they have a dislike or contempt for somebody. We have a tendency to hold grudges. And because we hold grudges for such a long time, we inadvertently cancel out some of the blessings that God has for us because of disobedience in loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Just chew on that for a minute and think, who could you have treated a little better than you did? Let’s not be like the guy talking to Jesus right now trying to justify some of his past actions. Trust me this is all going to come together in a minute.
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
One of the main messages contained in this parable starts with the title of the message in itself Samaritan.
In cultures all over the world they have attached the word Samaritan to the meaning of a person that does well for others. But that is not what a Samaritan is when it comes to the Bible.
A Samaritan is a culture of people that was despised and rejected by the Israelites. Pertaining to Samaria, the principal city of the ten tribes of Israel, belonging to the tribe of Ephraim, and after the captivity of those tribes, repeopled by Cuthites from Assyria or Chaldea. The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.
So in order to get an understanding of the Samaritan we need to go back to the Old Testament to the book of Ezra. We will begin reading Chapter 9.
But let me bring you up to speed as to what has happen thus for. Because the children of Israel refused to obey the Lord, and they were given over to captivity for 70 years. This was prophesied by Jeremiah in chapter (29:10)
The book of Ezra tells the story of the Cyrus King of Persia deciding it is time to send the people back and to rebuild the wall, the temple and the city.
So time has passed, the city is rebuilt, dedication prayers are ready to be given, everyone is happy and joyful that they are in the land of their ancestors, the land known as the promise land.
Now several years have passed and people are noticing that things are coming back together. Ezra is cleaning house and getting laws that Moses handed down reestablished in the hearts and minds of the people.
Well while getting everything in order Ezra receives word that the children of Israel have married woman and husbands that are not Israelites.
Well to us today nobody cares who marries who, we could care less about interracial marriages; but to them back then it was it was against their laws, and it was a serious offense, not one to be sweep under the rug.
A meeting was held and each and every household that had committed this sin was to be exiled. There were two choices that they had. Either send all the wives, husbands or children from these marriages off packing by themselves or you go with them. But they were going to have to leave Jerusalem.
A city from the tribe of Ephraim was selected and its name was Samaria. Under no circumstances was anyone from Israel allowed to interact with anyone from Samaria. For a Jewish person to come in contact with a Samaritan was consider unclean and the Jewish person is therefore is defiled.
So as the story unfolded and Jesus knowing exactly how the Jewish people regarded the Samaritans, how they despised and rejected them, how they seen them as the scum and rejection of the land. How they would not allow themselves to be in the company of one.
Preach
But one of them Jews found themselves at the mercy of the very one that they despised, is the very one that came to his aid. His own people received him not, the man with cloth cross the road and went on about his own business refusing to lend a helping hand.
What they didn’t understand when they refused to help, when they crossed to the other side; they was in fact saying if you find me on the road to life and I’m doing bad cross on over and leave me be.
I was thinking about the requirements that one needed to be classified and exiled into Samaria. These were people love ones, daughters, son, wives and more. People that nobody wanted anything to do with. People that others felt to be around them would make them dirty and defiled. People that were served the crumbs that others had, not having a home of their own but forced to make due where ever they could. These were the Samaritans, the ones that others didn’t want to look upon. When I look at our community I see Samaritans all around people that have been pushed out, forced out of their homes, rejected by those that are supposed to love them.
We are living in a modern Samaria right now without even understanding. What are you going to do about the Samarians around you, how are you going to treat them, how are you going to look at them, how are you going to step up to the plate and love thy neighbor as you love thyself.
Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. When you walking through this land of life, be careful of how of the attitude you have when interacting with others, be careful of how you view the circumstances of others, be careful of the opinions that you form about others.
Because you don’t know if the shoe of life was turned in the other direction how will others look at you? Because none of us knows what tomorrow holds.....
What you give is what you get, make it your business to follow the law of God and treat others with the same level of respect that you yourself would want to receive.