“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed: came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. 34. 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. 35. And the next day when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him and whatsoever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.”
You probably know the content of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. You remember that a man was beaten by thieves and left half dead on the side of the road. A priest and Levite passed by the man on the other side of the road, but the Samaritan stopped and helped the man. The priest and Levite, when they saw the suffering man, might have said: “Who cares?” Along came the Samaritan and said: “I care.”The question for us is which of these people would we be as we encounter suffering humanity. Would we say “Who cares?” or “I care?” The Good Samaritan has some lessons to teach us – let’s learn them. It is written that the Good Samaritan had compassion on the man. This is what the priest and Levite did not have. It is possible that the priest and Levite had important religious business to attend to in Jericho, and did not want to waste the time to stop and help the man. This reminds us of the Pharisees who were ready to kill Jesus because He healed people on the Sabbath. To put religious activity ahead of compassion for lost humanity is not good. It is not our duty to be “religious;" it is our duty to be Christian. To have compassion on someone is to empathize with them – to feel their pain. Perhaps the Good Samaritan thought, “If this was me, I would want someone to stop and help me, or if this was one of my children, I would want someone to stop and help them." It is possible that the priest and Levite felt sorry for the injured man, but feeling sorry for someone is not the same as feeling with someone. We need to ask ourselves if we have compassion in our hearts for hurting and lost humanity? The Good Samaritan took the time to help the injured man. He used what “first aid” resources he had available at the time. He bound up the man’s wounds and poured in oil and wine. Remember that he did not have bandages and other things that we might have in a first aid kit. He used what he had to help the man. He did what he could to do good to the injured man. We read stories all of the time of where people see people suffering in some way and “pass by on the other side.” It is not unheard of that people have watched people beaten, or raped, and just kept on going. I think that in a case like that a cell phone would be like “binding wounds and pouring in oil and wine.” If one didn’t have a cell phone, there is certainly something that they could do. Like the priest and Levite, people today just don’t want to get involved. Could it be said of us that we do not want to get involved in other people’s suffering? The Good Samaritan was willing to pay to be compassionate. He took the man to an inn and found lodging for him until he could get well. Furthermore, he told the innkeeper: “Take care of him; and whatever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.” The Good Samaritan followed through on his commitment to help the man get well. He didn’t just drop him off at an inn and say: “There, I’ve done my part." It does sometimes cost to act compassionately, but it pays off in our Christian witness. Who cares? Do you care? It is a good question. Caring is not just about helping suffering people on the side of the road. It is about being a good neighbor to others, and showing compassion in all areas of life. Bro. Joe
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|