Before we get into the story of the Good Samaritan, whom it is just as much or more fitting to call the Law of God abiding Samaritan, we’ll go back before it starts a couple of verses.

Luke 10:23-24: “And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”

The Word made flesh obviously did not void the Word of God already recorded on paper.  We’re about to see proof that is really so as we go forward here.

Luke 10:25: “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus is about to tell this lawyer to do what the Law of God prescribes- the very opposite of what very many preachers, Bible teachers, and evangelists would say now if they were asked the same question.  

Luke 10:26: “He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?”

Jesus had already said in Matthew 5:17-18: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

That is really so.  

Luke 10:27: “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.”

Being a lawyer who knew the Law of Moses well was not this man’s problem.  We’ll see that his problem was that he didn’t apply the Law properly to himself nor to others.  

God rebuked Israel’s Levitical Priests with the following rebuke in Malachi 2:8: “But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Adherence to the law was not why Jesus contended with Israel’s leaders and scholars.  He rather contended with them for their abuse and partiality in the law which is what actually made them hypocrites.  That is precisely why the lawyer was unjust and needed to repent.

Luke 10:28: “And he (Jesus) said unto him (the lawyer), Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”

Jesus said the very same in the Gospel accounts as this lawyer had answered Him.  

Matthew 7:12-14: “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 (my note- much easier said than done- look at the following verses- that is the issue with the story of the Samaritan).  Enter ye in at the strait (narrow) gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Matthew 22:35-40: “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

All the law and the prophets’ instructions are expressions or extensions of these two great commandments.

Luke 10:29: “But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?”

The lawyer only considered other Jews as his neighbor.  This partiality was a problem among the Jews in Jesus’ time, it had been a problem among the Jews before, and it has remained a great problem among them since.  

The story of the Good Samaritan in its context is Jesus’ rebuke to this great evil.

It is no wonder that most Jews rejected Him; and most Jews continue to do so to this day.  

Yet thinking that Jews are better than others is a great problem among professing Christians now too.  They are in sin and need to repent for that as well.  They actually think the Jews have a right to steal from and oppress the Palestinians just because they are Jewish.

I don’t need to get into this more.  We’ve got plenty of messages on the evil of Zionism.  The Bible is just so anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish supremacy (not antisemitic) that you encounter rebukes to Zionism all over the place.  You have to point them out in order to simply not be a liar.

This passage rebukes in principle anyone who thinks that those of any racial or ethnic group, or anyone at all for that matter, is not their neighbor whom they are required to show mercy to and help when it is seen they are in dire need.

Proverbs 3:27-28: “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.  Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.”

Now we come to the story which Jesus tells of the Law of God abiding Samaritan.  Notice that it doesn’t say it’s a parable.  Perhaps it was a parable; but perhaps this was based on a real-life event.  We’re not given enough information to know for sure.  We need the lesson either way.

Luke 10:30: “And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment (clothing), and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.”

It’s obvious to see here how evil Pacifism is.  It would obviously have been right for someone to physically resist, and if necessary take the life of these thieves and murderers if they had witnessed the crime as it was taking place (just because the guy didn’t die, for all the thieves knew he might die in harming him as they did).

Proverbs 24:11-12: “If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it?  and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?  and shall not he render to every man according to his works?”

When we see someone being beaten or otherwise in imminent danger, we have to do what we can to stop it.  Pacifists, unless they are inconsistent with the doctrine which they speak, say you can’t physically hurt the criminals or you are sinning.  They thus call good evil; and vice-versa.  

Obviously, sometimes the best one can do in such a situation is yell or run for help.  You should use common sense.  It is surely wicked though to do nothing or obviously do less than you should have done according to what you were reasonably capable of.

Now, the wickedness of our society is demonstrated by how it is normal for someone to be beaten, violated, or chased on the street or subway or other public place while many, maybe everyone, turns away or just holds up their cell phone or some other device to record the incident.  

People who act like that are surely going to hell with the criminals they enable.

The wickedness of our society is also demonstrated when real Good Samaritans get in trouble for stepping in to protect others from violent criminals and get prosecuted even though there is no good reason to believe that they used unreasonable or excessive force considering the great danger present and the urgency of the decisions they had to make.  

Luke 10:31-32: “And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.”

This priest and Levite could very well have been returning from religious service in Jerusalem- falsely thinking their duty was done for now.  Yet to obey is better than sacrifice; and God desires mercy over sacrifice.  

If either of these were going to Jerusalem for religious service rather than returning, that could wait.  Fulfilling the moral law takes precedence over God-ordained ceremonies.   

The priest and the Levite here also are a picture of how the Jewish ceremonies in themselves can’t atone for sin and bring redemption to people.  Sin has left all of us greatly wounded and without strength to deliver ourselves from impending eternal death.

Luke 10:33-35: “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 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.  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.”

Samaritans were not Jews.  They were foreigners who had come to inhabit a large part of what had been the northern kingdom of Israel.  The Roman province of Samaria was between Judea and Galilee.  You can read more about the Samaritans in John chapter 4 where Jesus’ interaction with a Samaritan woman is recorded.  

To avoid getting sidetracked, all we need to know to get the point of the story is that the Jews’ custom was to not have any dealings with the Samaritans.  That is seen in how a Samaritan woman was surprised that Jesus asked her for a drink of water in John chapter 4.

Luke 10:36: “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?”

Jesus is talking to the lawyer directly again here.  This Samaritan had done what the Law of God required.  That is why I’m calling him “The Law of God Abiding Samaritan.”  It is normal to call him “The Good Samaritan.”  

It’s important to understand that Jesus portrayed this Samaritan as a man who used God’s Law as a guide to faith and loved his neighbor as himself by these actions- since honestly and impartially following the principles of God’s Law dictated that he do these things in order to walk in agreement with God and not offend against Him.

Micah 6:8: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

Luke 10:37: “And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.  Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”

Yes, really.  We need to love our neighbor as ourselves the way this Samaritan did in order to inherit eternal life- and there is no one whom we can righteously write off as being among those whom we have this duty to.

Of course, this goes back to verses 25 to 29 of Luke chapter 10 which led to Jesus telling this story.

Psalm 119:10-11: “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

A few points to consider:

Jesus is obviously dealing with this man’s partiality here.  Having partiality (that is, respect of persons) keeps one out of God’s grace in truth and hinders them from walking upon the narrow way to eternal life.  A righteous faith which justifies one before God loves one’s neighbor as oneself without partiality.  It is the same truth which is emphasized in the Book of James chapter 2.  In that chapter, the same truth is approached from the angle of not having partiality when it comes to the rich and the poor.

Jesus was not teaching here that we can earn our salvation.  In order to earn our salvation we would need a perfect record before God or be able to atone for our own sins (which many Jews wrongly counted on the sacrifices in the law for; and which man seeks to do through false religion and his own devised attempts to work his way into God’s favor).  This story is not negating everything the Bible teaches about the need for a blood atonement and Jesus offering Himself on the cross as the Perfect Lamb of God to provide the atonement we need (and we need to receive Him completely in order to have His blood applied to us for our justification).

Jesus was indeed teaching here that we need to use God’s Law as a guide to a living faith – a faith which makes pleasing God and loving our neighbor in line with His instructions our supreme aim which overrules every other endeavor.  Hoping in Jesus Christ’s blood without a faith which genuinely strives to come into agreement with God’s authority and walk in His ways is vain.

Psalm 119:142: “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.”

Amos 3:3: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

Revelation 22:13-14: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

Consider also: This beaten and wounded man was going down from Jerusalem (the place which was holy at the time since God’s worship was then centered there) to Jericho (a place which was regarded as accursed- see Joshua 6:26).  Jesus Christ the Ultimate King, though a descendant of Abraham and David according to the flesh, was a righteous outsider among the Jews like this Samaritan who looked upon humanity beaten, robbed, and wounded in sin- and had compassion.  He shed His blood at extreme personal expense and sent His Spirit to cleanse and provide new life for those who will cooperate with His rescue attempt.  Those who endure His treatment as the Great Physician of souls, through all the means which He has provided to repair and restore God’s image in man, in order to make us fitting products for His kingdom, will inherit eternal life through Him when He comes again to reign.

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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