I need your breath of life in my soul like my lungs need breaths of air. So I set aside this morning time to breath deep.
“Now an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man he passed by on the other side. So too a Levite, when he came up to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ʻTake care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.ʼ Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The expert in religious law said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” So Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.” (Luke 10:25-37)
“But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him.” Here is what made the Samaritan different from the priest and Levite: He felt compassion for the robbed man. In the story, compassion becomes the concrete expression of love. The next verse details explicitly six acts of compassion.
1.“He came up to him:” He did not ignore the man, he allowed him to interrupt his busy schedule and he got his hands dirty with love
2.”He bandaged his wounds”: before he could bandage his wounds, he had to take time to discover what the man’s wounds and hurts were.
3. He “poured oil and wine on the wounds”: He took time not to just lobserve and listen, but to tangibly touch his wounds and give him what needed for healing.
4. “He put him on his own animal.”: He put the man first including inconveniencing himself by putting them man on his own mode of transportation and choosing to walk.
5.” He brought him to an inn”; He sought out and took the man to resources in his community that could continue to assist the man in his healing and meet his needs.
6. “He took care of him”; The two silver coins were denarii. A denarius was a silver coin worth about a day's pay for a laborer; this would be an amount worth about two days' of the Samaritan’s pay, a sizable amount. The man was generous in his compassion.
7. And I can add another act from verse 35, “when I come back this way.”; The Samaritn intentionally made plans to stay connected and follow-up a with the man’s progress.
The religious expert was concerned and concentrated not on himself, but on others people’s qualifications, who his neighbor was. Jesus was concerned and concentrated on the experts own personal qualifications. In verse 10:36, Jesus reversed the question the expert in religious law asked in v. 29 “Who is my neighbor?” and Jesus asked the expert, “Which of these three do you think became a neighbor?” Jesus’ question to the expert focused on him, to one of becoming a neighbor by loving. “Do not think about who they are, but who you are," was in a sense Jesus’ reply.
The Samaritan, the neighbor, did not just do what was required of him, but had mercy on the injured man. He had compassion and showed mercy and out of kindness went the extra step that shows love.
The expert began this encounter with Jesus by asking Jesus, ““Teacher, what must I DO to inherit eternal life?” The answer “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said “DO this and you will live.” Then Jesus gave the example of the Good Samaritan to show what this “Doing” actually looks like in the day to day life of one of his followers. And Jesus ends the conversations with the command to him and us “Go and DO the same.”
My family, As you begin your work week, I pray you may meditate on this passage and walk out your door this morning with a heart full of compassion, mercy and love to “DO,” in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using the comment box below.
My daily prayer is Lord send me the ones no one else wants”
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