Do You Care with Pastor Athol Barnes | 2.16.25

If we are honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that there are people that we would not be concerned about being outside of the grace of God. We all have a line.

This is part of our fallen human nature. During the time that Jesus walked the earth, the nation of Israel had people that they hated so much they declared them to be beyond the hope of redemption.

A Question for a Question

Jesus confronted this way of thinking and challenged the norms of culture during his earthly ministry. We read about his confrontation with a Mosaic law expert in Luke 10, and we know it as the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Sometimes we forget that Jesus told the parable in response to a challenge. A lawyer had posed this question: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

To the lawyer’s chagrin, Jesus answers the question with a question, asking, “What is written in the Law?” In response, he begins sparring with Jesus. Jesus directs the man to an authority that they can both accept – the law of Moses (Luke 10:26).

The lawyer answers Jesus’ question by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. He connects these two different passages, showing a good understanding of the law of Moses.

“And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

Jesus commends him and seems to move on, but the learned man is not satisfied. He knows that he is not perfectly loving towards his fellow man, so he is looking for a definition that will lower the bar on the requirement of the law. He asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

A Parable for a Problem

Jesus tells a parable to correct the scribe’s false understanding of who his neighbor was.

In this parable, a man is beaten to the point of death, and three people walk past him as he lay on the side of the road between Jerusalem and Jericho.

The priest, who should have been the first to help, walks by on the other side of the road. A man from the tribe of Levi does the same thing and keeps on walking.

The third person to come by is a Samaritan. Samaritans were hated by the Jews because of racial position and religious differences. The Samaritans were judged and condemned by the Jewish people.

We do not know if the injured man was a Jew or Gentile, but it made no difference to the Samaritan; he did not consider the man’s race or religion. The Samaritan only saw a person in need of assistance, and he assisted him by going above and beyond in his care.

A Question for an Answer

Jesus made his point by asking the scribe a laser sharp question, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”  (Luke 10:36).

Once again, the lawyer’s answer reveals his personal hardness of heart. He refers to the Samaritan as, “the one who showed mercy.”

Jesus then tells the lawyer to “go and do likewise,.” Jesus means that the man should start living what the law tells him to do by following the Samaritan’s example of merciful care, irrespective of the recipient’s race, religion, financial position or nationality. 

The lesson is the same for us. If someone has a need and we have the means to help, then we are to give generously and freely without expectation of return, regardless of the recipient’s race, religion, socioeconomic status, or political views.

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