They Had Been With Jesus + The Lord Is My Shepherd”
Won’t You Be My Neighbor.
The danger of being a PRIEST or a LEVITE.
On Friday night, at some point, the Priest & the Levite from the story of the Good Samaritan came to mind, and they have come to mind several other times over the course of the weekend. Again this morning, the PRIEST & the LEVITE came to mind, so I decided to read the famous parable from Jesus recorded in Luke 10.
I am moved, and convicted, and cautioned by this simple story.
Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan in response to “a certain lawyer’s” questions. His first question is, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And, as Jesus often does, He answers the question with a question. “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” The lawyer answers Jesus, “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.” Jesus says, “great job! Do so, and you shall live.” But the lawyer, wanting to prove himself “righteous” in this way (or “willing to justify himself”), as the KJV says, asked another question, “Who then is my neighbor?” It has never occurred to me before, but this man was a “lawyer,” according to BDB, he was (#3544) “one learned in the law; an interpreter and teacher of the Mosaic law.’ He was a “Bible scholar,” and since he asked this 2nd question of Jesus, with the intent to prove his own goodness, he must’ve expected a particular answer. I think he may have expected Jesus to say, “Oh you know, all the good folks you go to temple with…the people who are like you…the ones you’re in community with, who believe exactly like you…who practice the Mosaic law. The ones who offer sacrifices and honor the Sabbath…the ones who are following all the rules.” This would’ve justified him, because I think he was doing that. But that’s not how Jesus answered.
“And Jesus answering, said” …In response to this religious expert’s question, Jesus tells a story…He paints a picture of a neighbor, and it’s not quite what this lawyer had anticipated.
First of all…the “neighbor”, according to what I see, WAS likely a Jewish man. “A certain man” as KJV says. But, while he was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, this man falls prey to thieves, who strip him of his garments, wound him, and leave him alone “half dead.” This is not the “good, clean variety” of neighbor. This man is likely naked; he’s bloody; he’s injured, and he’s barely surviving. He has wounds, he’s been robbed and abandoned. He’s at the 1/2 way point between life and death. And the odds are not in his favor. THE BAD GUYS GOT THE BEST OF HIM. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho is very mountainous and dangerous. The arid, desert climate would offer no natural protection from the elements: the blazing sun of daytime and the deep chill of nighttime. He has lost all he had and has no means to help himself. He has a 50/50 chance of survival, and it will be entirely dependent on another as to whether or not he makes it. THIS IS the NEIGHBOR. Broken. Bleeding, having encountered injurious and devastating loss at the hands of others. And the neighbor is a mess.
Jesus continues to paint the scene with his words: “And by chance, there came down a CERTAIN PRIEST that way…” (Luke 10:31). This seems like a fortuitous turn of events for the victim of this crime scene. Perhaps the man was coming in and out of consciousness and could see the priestly garments through swollen eyes. Help is here. Surely this man of God will see his brutalized condition and offer assistance. But, in one of the great “let-downs” of Scripture, the story continues, “when he SAW him, he passed by on the other side.” The ray of hope that had gleamed so brightly just moments before was snuffed out. One who seemed most likely to help had hurried on. I’m not sure of the Priest’s motives or deciding factors, but upon observing this ravaged individual, he chose to keep walking. Maybe he observed the position of the sun overhead, and knew the time of his temple obligations was pressing in. Or, if he didn’t hurry, the 18-mile walk would find him in danger himself. Whatever the reason, he chose not to stop; he chose not to do anything for the broken man on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.
But, never worry, never fear, another set of footsteps can be heard crunching along the gravel road from Jerusalem. “And likewise a Levite,” (a temple assistant), is walking toward the beaten, bruised man. He’s not quite as “important” as the Priest, so certainly he will have a bit more time to minister to this injured man. Scripture says, “when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.” He took an extra moment to “look” at the man, but he, too, decided to continue on. Again there are no motives ascribed in Scripture, but I think Jesus’ point was clear. These ministers had forgotten the heart of the mission. They had quoted, “love thy neighbor as thyself,” and they had failed to remember what a neighbor looked like, and what is meant to be a neighbor. This was the most important piece of the Law. Paul wrote and said, all the commandments could be summed up: “It is briefly comprehended in this saying namely, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. Love works no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Rom 13:9-10). But the PRIEST and the LEVITE had duties. They were busy. In fact, the definition for “PRIEST” is “one who offers sacrifices and is BUSIED with sacred rites.” (Thayer’s). They had responsibilities and routines and religious rituals which meant they had time to “see” the man but not stop and help the man. The pace of their life, the weight of their religious responsibility, and their lofty view of themselves had stifled the flow of love in their hearts. They chose to move on, even when they saw. Maybe it violated other commands, and they’d be ceremonially unclean? Again, maybe fear for their own safety kept them moving. But while the PRIEST & the LEVITE chose to move on, someone else chose to STOP.
“But a certain Samaritan,” a man that the PRIEST, the LEVITE, and the lawyer, who initiated this story, would look down on, “as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him had compassion on him.” (Luke 10:33)
The Greek word for “compassion” is “splagchnizomai.” It is only used of Jesus, and he uses it here in this story of the Good Samaritan and in the story of the Prodigal Son. Charles Spurgeon says, “The original word is a very remarkable one. It is not found in Classic Greek. It is not found in the Septuagint. The fact is it was a word coined by the evangelists themselves. They did not find one word in the whole Greek language that suited their purpose, and therefore, they had to make one. It is expressive of the deepest emotion; a striving of the bowels—a yearning of the innermost nature of pity.” (CHS/“THE COMPASSION OF JESUS”/12-24-1914)
This sort of compassion is what welled up in the heart of the Good Samaritan. He was a “nobody,” but he took note of the man’s life-threatening condition and immediately went into action….
1. He had compassion on him
2. He went to him
3. He bound up his wounds. Was it bloody and messy? Yes. But he offered what he had and did what he could with no guarantee of how it would “turn out.”
4. He poured in oil and wine
5. He set the broken man on his own beast
6. He brought him to an inn
7. He took care of him
In the morning, he left, but compassion saw him giving.
8. He took out 2 pence
9. He gave them to the host
and 10. “said unto him, ‘Take care of him and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.”
Jesus stops the story there. We don’t even know if the victim survived or recovered. We don’t know how long his stay at the inn was. The story is inconclusive. But the POINT isn’t. Jesus stops the story and asks the question:
“Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?”
And the lawyer responds, “He that showed mercy on him.”
That’s the right answer. Jesus wraps up the conversation by saying, “Go and do thou likewise.”
Go and observe the broken around you, and when you see them, stop, and let compassion well up on the inside. Let that compassion move you to action. DO WHAT YOU CAN with WHAT YOU HAVE, WHEN YOU CAN. Religious duty and protocol and position and responsibility can wait. When your path runs directly into the broken, don’t pass by on the other side. Stop and care and pour and give. You can’t do it all, but you can do something. You can see a neighbor and you can be a neighbor.
This convicts me in a way I can’t explain. I don’t want to be so “busied with religious rites” as the PRIEST and LEVITE that I forget the mission of Jesus: to seek and to save that which was lost. I don’t want busyness or fear or pressing duties to stop the flow of love in my heart. Love for humanity. Love for the hurting—IN and OUT of the church. Love for those I wouldn’t naturally consider a “neighbor.” Love for the broken and the bleeding. Love and compassion for the harvest. Love that beats in time with my Savior’s. Compassion so deep that there’s not a word for it. I’m not there, but I want to be there. Let me learn from the PRIEST and the LEVITE. Let me learn from the Good Samaritan. Please help me see the “neighbors” and BE a neighbor.
Please help me show mercy: “kindness or goodwill toward the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them.” (#G1656). That’ what You’ve done for me. Please help me pass it on.
Please, won’t you be my NEIGHBOR? ❤️
Thank you for joining me for this journey!
Go grab your Bible and your journal!
I look forward to the power of this habit in your life. This is Unedited.