The Good Samaritan parable isn’t the story you think it is.
Oftentimes people who do good deeds are called Samaritans.
Those who call people Samaritans misunderstand the story and have it completely wrong.
Fixing Christianity one dose at a time.
The Good Samaritan parable isn’t the story you think it is.
Oftentimes people who do good deeds are called Samaritans.
Those who call people Samaritans misunderstand the story and have it completely wrong.
Fixing Christianity one dose at a time.
Fixing Christianity, one dose at a time. Cue the intro.
Hi everyone, welcome back to Christian Capsules, season two, capsule number nine. Here we're fixing Christianity, one dose at a time. Remember all scripture is read from the New American Standard Bible, that's the 95 edition. And also, please remember to subscribe to Christian Capsules via your favorite podcast.
Um, we're on everything. Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart, you name it, we're on it. Alright, today we have a good one for you. Um, the problem that we're tackling today is this. The Good Samaritan story that you've heard about isn't the story that you think it is. You see, often times people who do good deeds in society, they're referred to as Samaritans.
And, no one, let me get this off the, let me say this right away, no one has a problem with people in society doing good deeds. We applaud them for that, that's fantastic. Um, those people though, who call people Samaritans, misunderstand what the story is, and they have it completely wrong. The other day there was a story about people helping another person get out of their wrecked car.
Um, as many as six people helped this person get out of their burning car. Um, the good news is that they were successful in getting the person out right before the flames engulfed the car. The bad news is that the local news was calling these people out. Good Samaritans, and it wasn't just a one off.
They were saying it all day. He's good Samaritans, Samaritans. What? I mean, really? Good helpers, yes. Are they Samaritans? No, they are not. In fact, they are far from it. There are no more good Samaritan than I am. Now, before people jump down my throat on this, let me, allow me, just allow me to break this down.
And for this we need to start to what We'll start at the beginning what? Led Jesus to tell to tell this story and for those who don't know The good spirit of story comes out of the bible. It actually comes out of uh, Luke chapter 10 um But before we go into the story, we gotta back it up a little bit and start talking about What led up to Jesus telling the story?
This is now a thing Well, he was just sitting there and he just says, let me just bust on into a story cause it's fun. There was reasoning why Jesus launched into tearing a parable of the good Samaritan. All right. So basically the premise is this, um, in Luke chapter 10, Jesus, Jesus has sent out 72 of his followers to go preach the gospel and things and to do miracles and stuff like that.
They came back and they gave a report of what happened. Jesus, uh, then, uh, Give thanks to the Lord and then Jesus turns to his disciples and blesses them for what they did. However, in this crowd, there's a lawyer who decides to test him, to test Jesus and to be a smarty pants. Now, I'm going to read this real quick about what the lawyer did.
Alright, so this comes from Luke chapter 10 and we're going to start at verse 25. And it says, Behold, a lawyer stood up and put him to, him being Jesus, put him to the test saying, Teacher. What should I do to inherit an eternal life and he said to him what is written in a law? How does it read to you and he answered being a lawyer?
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul With all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself and he being Jesus said to him you have answered correctly Do this and you will live but wanting to justify himself He said to Jesus and who is my neighbor?
You have to understand the premise of what's going on. This lawyer guy, after the apostles are getting praised, and Jesus is giving thanks for what happened with the 72, this lawyer guy decides to make himself look good. He comes out and tests Jesus. What can I do? He steps in there. Oh, but Jesus, what can I do to get, uh, eternal life?
So Jesus says, well, well, you know the law. What does it say? How do you interpret it? And the guy breaks it down. He's like, yeah, love your, uh, love God with everything, and love your neighbor as yourself. Right? And that is true. So, Jesus gives him, uh, props for it. He says, yeah, do that, and you'll live. You got it.
The lawyer tries to, uh, tries to make himself further to look even better. But says, well, who exactly is my neighbor? You know, just trying to put himself out there like that. And that's when Jesus decides to launch into the story. Now, for the uninitiated, and for people who don't know, The Jews are very good with their neighbors as far as, uh, things.
Um, for example, that, uh, to deal with yo have to, as a Jew, leave stock on the end of your when people come by like or poor people, you know, Your food off your property line, whether it be grain, fruit, figs, whatever it is on your property line, you were supposed to leave some on the edges. So the people coming along could just pick it and that's how they deal with the poor.
Excuse me. Um, so they were kind of familiar a little bit, but this was, this was not like super detailed thing. This is like baseline. This is the least you can do for people who were needy. Uh, uh, who are around you who came around you or people in your neighborhood or people like that Now going back to the lawyer.
I do want to say this Uh while the lawyer was trying to impress jesus trying to look good Jesus did know that his question perked the ears of many people in his group when he asked who is my neighbor I promise you Everybody looked up and looked at jesus. It was a decent question from their perspective Perhaps that question wasn't even explored before.
Nobody really asked it. Or they just assumed that it was the low bar from leaving the food or whatever. But now they're thinking like, Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What is? Who is my neighbor? Come to think about it, who really is my neighbor? Is it the guy who lives next door to me? Right? Is it the guy who passes through my yard and gets food?
Who exactly is my neighbor? Who are we talking about here? So, uh, the question is Was a good question good enough at least for Jesus to want to address it and address it He does now Jesus launches into this story that has many levels But the main context is to show everyone who exactly their neighbor is now in this story Um, it's it's called a parable, but it's it's a story.
It's a story because Jesus doesn't actually use names when he uses names and he's telling a story. That's kind of that's truth. That's a truthful This is a fictional story that Jesus made up. Okay, I'm going to read the story. It's not very long, but a lot of people may not know the entirety of the story.
So I'm going to read it real quick. Remember, this is, uh, chapter 10. I'm going to go back and read verse 29 and then go after that. So, verse 29 says, But wanted to justify himself. He being the lawyer said to Jesus and who is my neighbor and Jesus replied and said a man was going down to Jerusalem I mean, I'm sorry a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he encountered robbers and they stripped him and beat him and Went away leaving him half dead and by coincidence a priest was going down on that road And when he had saw him he passed by on the other side Likewise a Levite also when he came to the place and saw him He passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him. And when he saw him, he felt compassion. And, and came to him and banished up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, and then put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper and said, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.
Now, which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber's hands? And he said, he being the lawyer, the one who showed compassion to him. Then Jesus said to him, go and do the same. Luke 10, 30 37. Now let's try to break this down for, uh, using, going verse by verse, alright?
First verse says, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. This is kind of important because Jericho was roughly 15 miles, give or take a mile, from Jerusalem. And I know on the map, it appears to be, Jericho appears to be northeast of Jerusalem. So it seems kind of weird when they say going down to Jericho.
But Jericho is, um, below, Jericho is below Jerusalem, um, by elevation. Jerusalem sits higher up. Jericho is down in a valley, but down by the Dead Sea. So they're below sea level. They're down. So when they say going down, it's like going down a big hill Even though they're traveling north. All right Jerusalem is actually a higher elevation than Jericho.
Just keep that in mind Jericho at that time. Um was like an oasis type city Remember, this is kind of a desert type region, but Jericho was like an oasis type region Um Jericho catered to the rich and the elite It's kind of like Jericho was kind of like the Los Angeles It was kind of like Los Angeles of that time.
Um, so much so that Herod the Great had built, uh, a getaway place there for him to get away during the winter months. He would go there during the winter months, and it was like, um, an oasis to him. Alright, so that's talking about the verse line of it, right? A certain man, a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
Now, the next verse says, the man encounters robbers. And this isn't unusual on this road. This road is very, it's very deadly. It's, it's, it's, it's a dangerous road. This road was often times filled with homeless outcasts and pirates, right? Bandits often times patrolled this road. Because the rich people was coming.
from Jerusalem going to Jericho so a bandit can rob people and hence the case with this man here he gets robbed by robbers by pirates the next verse it says by coincidence a priest was going down on that road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side let me back it up a little bit because I forgot a part um the man was was encountered by robbers and they stripped him and beat him and they went away Leaving him half dead.
So the man who was going down to Jericho Encountered robbers was beaten robbed and left for left for dead now by coincidence A priest was also going down on that road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side Oh, the reason why Jesus says but by coincidence is because the priest Um, if there's anybody you want to help you half dead on the road, it would be the priest He was happening to go and be going down You While you were on that road as well, so you're like, oh good priest is going it's gonna help him out I mean who else better who else wouldn't care for a person more than a should be a priest, right?
That's why Jesus is by coincidence. This is who you will want going down. All right, but Jesus says he passed him by on the other side. So basically the priest had wanted nothing to do with him Now, why? Why did the priest want nothing to do with the guy to have dead on the road? I mean, it seems kind of harsh.
A Jewish guy is down on the road, a Jewish priest passes by on the road, and he goes on the other side and says, I don't want nothing to do with the guy. That seems entirely messed up. That is like, what the heck? But let's, let's pay attention to what's really going on. For a priest, it is all unlawful for a priest to To handle the dead it would make him unclean and the Jews had this thing about trying to remain unclean their whole Life being was trying to avoid things that would make them unclean touching a leopard will make them unclean Handling the dead will make them unclean not washing in certain times will make them unclean So they had this thing about being unclean So the priest thought probably thought that the guy who was dead half dead Look, you know the royal party was dead and the priest said I don't want to take a chance with this You I don't want to be unclean.
I'm out of here. So that's why he avoided, uh, the guy who's hurt. Now the next verse says, a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Same situation as with the priest, right? The risk of being unclean prevents both of those guys for helping. I mean, if there's any guy that you would want, it's the priest and the Levite.
They would be obviously the most, should be the most compassionate people out of the whole population and they avoid this guy for fear of being labeled unclean in this case you could say the law trumps love anyway on to the next verse but a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him and when he saw him he felt compassion now let me pause real quick on that because it's halfway through the verse it says a Samaritan was on a journey came to him came upon him and when he saw him he felt compassion let's break that down A Samaritan is journey, it's probably because, because it says he's on a journey, it's probably likely that he came from Samaria to Jerusalem, being that the verse indicates him being Samaritan.
Samaritans are citizens of Samaria. Samaria sits in the middle of Israel, right? And since he's on a journey, it's probably because he came from Samaria down to Jerusalem, and now he's headed to Jericho. Now, who were the Samaritans at that time? So, a Samaritan, well, my words, the Samaritans were the minorities that the Jews did not like, and I actually like is a soft word for it, and consider them, the Samaritans, to be unclean to the Jews, because the Samaritans were mixed breeds.
They were half Jew and half Gentile. Um, and they lived in a region in the middle of Israel, like I said, called Samaria. Um, ironically, the Samaritans though, they worshipped the same God as the Jews, but they didn't recognize the Levite priesthood, right? They don't recognize that as legitimate. They have their own, um, traditional laws, even though they believe in the same God.
They have their own copy of the Torah, Um, And they have the same God, but they worship on a different mountain, a mountain that's inside, uh, Samaria. So the same belief system, different traditions, different, different laws, um, except that the Samaritans were mixed people, half Jew and half Gentile, and that, um, the Samaritans didn't really recognize the priesthood.
As of the Jews as legitimate, they thought their line of people had the legitimate priesthood And they both hated basically it's just like they hated each other, right? More of the Jews hating the Samaritans and the Samaritans just having to have to deal with the hate That's kind of what this situation is, right?
the Samaritan The Samaritan race is a race of people not people who do good works It's a race of people That lived in or or from Samaria not group of people or a person who does good deeds You must pay attention to that fact because it is this this story Hinges on the fact that Jesus puts a Samaritan in this story now The first says when a Samaritan came upon him he for compassion Compassion Jesus makes note to mention that the Samaritan is the only person out of the three To have compassion on this guy who's have dead Enough to help the guy who was half dead and to go out beyond what help would normally be.
Right? This guy, what does the Samaritan do? What does it say he does? He goes beyond just bandaging up the wounds and stuff. Verse 34 says, And came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, and put him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day, he gave two denarii, which is currency.
Uh to the inn keeper and said take care of him whatever more you spend when I return I'll repay you so The Samaritan took care of the guy. He just not only did he just bandage him up, but he used what he had on him Oil and wine probably going to use those things to trade in Jericho He probably was going to do business in Jericho and he used what he had On him, even his own money, and took care of this guy, took this guy to basically to a hotel, got him off the street, put him in his car, took him to the hotel, paid the innkeeper, said he's gonna stay here, He's gonna get better, this guy's jacked up, here's the money now, and I'll pay you the rest when I get back coming through here, right, to the innkeeper, or to the hotel guy.
That's basically what we have, uh, going on here with this man. The key phrase here is that he felt compassion. The guy who is the Samaritan who the Jews hate, the guy laying on the ground is a Jew because he was going from Jerusalem to Jericho. He's a Jew. He gets beat up beyond, he's messed up. The two people who were supposed to help him, didn't help him.
The Samaritan, the guy who the Jews hate, stops to help the guy. Puts aside. Whatever it is they got between, the beef that they got between each other. And, and that just puts it, puts his beef aside. He tends to the guy as if he was one of his own. That's the major takeaway. He puts aside whatever beef, racial beef that they have, and he takes care of the guy as if he's taking care of his own son.
And finally, the last verse of it, Jesus asked the guy, he asked the lawyer, And who was the one who showed compassion to his neighbor? This has got to be something that stings the guy to death. Right. This hurts, right? The lawyer has to say the guy who showed compassion, right? He doesn't say Samaritan, right?
That would be too much. He's not gonna He's not gonna say the Samaritan again because remember this is a race of people that they hate They can't stand the Samaritans the Jewish people and you Jesus is forcing This is the force of the Samaritan I mean, I'm sorry, Jesus. Forcing a lawyer to say the Samaritan is the hero of the story and not the two Jewish people who have prestige and power.
And the people who you would think would normally do something like that, it's not those guys. It's the minority, the minority guy, the Outcast guy, the unclean guy, right? That's the guy. That's the hero. That's the guy that comes in and does the work that the other people should have done. Right? Put aside, they should have put aside their laws, should have put aside their, um.
Worried about being unclean and do the the thing he already done testify. I mean, I mean testify Jesus has already asked the guy about what's the greatest loss, right? And the guy told him love god. Love your neighbor, right? The priest and the Levite had a chance to do that They didn't the Samaritan guy did the minority guy the lawyer has to say to Jesus while biting his lip I'm sure well, it's the minority guy.
They did it. You know that guy. He showed compassion He had to admit it the guy that they hate That would be if Skinhead said the black people, the black guys, the hero of the story. That would be the same thing as that. If Skinhead said the black people were the heroes, right? Or, the Nazis said, well yeah, that Jewish guy's the hero, right?
That's the equivalent of that. Um, it's just funny that Jesus makes him admit to it. But we're not even done here with the story. I didn't even mention the fact that Jesus, the way he crafted the story, why he chose the Samaritan, right? The, to be the hero of this story. Here's the part that's, the part that's funny.
In John 8, 48, Jesus is called a demonic Samaritan by his own people. Because he's preaching things, and he's doing miracles, and they don't believe he's from God, and they're calling him unclean. By calling him a Samaritan, they're saying he's unclean, and he's possessed. Right? And Jesus, classic Jesus, he doesn't, he denies having the demon or being possessed.
But doesn't deny the Samaritan tag, right? He doesn't deny being the Samaritan He just lets someone ride. He denies being a demon. He goes, I don't have a demon I'm not possessed but lets the Samaritan thing go, right? Because Jesus knows these are the people that are being picked on the minorities they're being picked on and They're using them now the name or just calling anybody Samaritan who appears to be unclean or whatever They're just using it as an offensive term The word Samaritan now is being tossed around.
So Jesus uses that very thing and goes back into, and makes a story, and talks about how the Samaritan is the hero. Jesus does this once again, um, with the woman at the well. Classic Jesus. He takes him and his apostles to Samaria. To Samaria, right? And has the apostles, he meets the woman at the well, and makes the apostles go to town.
The people that they hate go to the town of the people that jade the minorities the dogs the unclean It makes them buy food from those same very people classic Jesus So Jesus has a soft spot for the people who are being oppressed So he uses the oppressed person as the hero of the story classic Jesus now going back to the good Samaritan story This is a story of how you should love your neighbor, right?
Then the people you the neighbor is the people that you come across in your daily life Whether it is the people in your neighborhood, or the people at your job, or the people you encounter in a different city. It doesn't matter where you're, where you're at, it's the person that you encounter on a daily basis.
Um, and it doesn't matter what race wars that are happening in society, right? Jesus uses this story to, as an opportunity to address the Jews blatant racism. You can't be racist to your neighbor and then call yourself loving your neighbor. Now, going back to the point of this capsule, a good Samaritan is not the title of a person who does good deeds.
Again, I repeat, a good Samaritan is not the title of a person or persons who does good deeds. That just means you're just a good white person, black person, a good Chinese person. You know, the Samaritan does not mean good person who does good deeds. Samaritan is a race, the race of a person who sees his neighbor in need and provides for them.
Help via compassion. Unless you were somehow born to Samaritan parents or you lived in Samaria You cannot be a good Samaritan living in America. That is a story to teach how to love your neighbor The Samaritan can easily be replaced by a Greek or a Roman in this story. Folks, we have to stop it We have to stop taking Bible verses Twisting them up and making it say what we want them to say I'm not against people who do good deeds, who do good deeds in society.
We need that. That's what, that's what everybody wants. However, you cannot twist Bible verses and make it say things that it doesn't say. We do this far too much. We make up things that God just simply did not say. Uh, cleanliness is next to godliness. I mean, what are we talking about here? So you're trying to say like, the poor, the unkempt, the needy, or the homeless.
Can't be next to God because they're dirty or God helps those who help themselves. What if we help ourselves? Why do we need God? Like the stupid things like that. We got to stop saying things like that. And the good Samaritan thing. The person who does good deeds is just a person who does good deeds.
It's not, they are not a Samaritan unless they were born in Samaria. It's a race, not a title. My name is Jermaine Farrow, and I'll talk to you next time.