Transcript
Joel:
The love of the Good Samaritan is so critical in the message of Christ because actually the true Good Samaritan is Jesus himself.
Stephen:
So a man is going from Jerusalem to Jericho. He is attacked by robbers, left for dead, and then three men come along. Each of them sees him in his need, but only one of them stops. Of course, it’s the Good Samaritan. So he’s set up as the man that truly loves his neighbour.
So what did he do? What’s going on there that helps us understand what Jesus was teaching?
Joel:
The first thing he does is intervene. That’s really central to what love is. Love is not an abstract concept. It’s seen in action. It’s something that is spent by an individual. It costs them, and it’s received and appreciated. It becomes a blessing to another person.
It’s important to notice that the love Jesus presents is very different from our notion of love. In a contemporary Western context, what we often call love would be better described as lust, or as affirmation of everything a person does. If you love someone, you just accept them no matter what they do, no matter how damaging or ruinous their choices are. You say, “That’s fine. You’ve chosen this. I love you, so I accept you.”
That’s not the love found in the Bible.
Stephen:
Yeah. This man went towards the man in need. That’s the distinction from the other two men. They saw him and passed by on the other side. Christ’s teaching about love is that it goes towards the person, even if they’re in a position they’ve got themselves into, even if they deserve the consequences they’re facing. There’s still compassion, this movement towards the person, to meet them in their need and help them.
As the story unfolds, we see more things the Good Samaritan does. He uses his resources, his hands, dealing with practical need. He puts the man on his donkey. There’s payment, generosity.
What else do you see that helps bring this three-dimensional love of Christ to life?
Joel:
Love is costly. Love is sacrifice. Love is painful. The Good Samaritan gives up his resources – things he is legitimately entitled to: the oil, the wine, the money that he has. He gives all of these things up for the blessing of a person who actually is his enemy. A person who was opposed to him.
The animosity between Jews and Samaritans was so deep and so fervent. Yet this man moves towards someone he doesn’t know, to whom he owes nothing, in mercy and grace. That’s what true love is: it's a love that gives of one's self, without thought of the personal cost, or even of the response of the person receiving it.
That’s why the love of the Good Samaritan is so critical in the message of Christ, because the true Good Samaritan is Jesus himself.
Stephen:
Romans chapter 5 paints that picture: “God demonstrated his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were in opposition, Christ went to death for us.
I also noticed the Samaritan’s generosity. He spends his money to get the man a place to stay, but then he says something like, “Whatever else it costs, I’ll pay you when I come back.” It’s basically a blank cheque. That’s a great picture of the love of God. There isn’t really a limit. God will pay whatever it takes to save his enemies and bring them into restoration.
Joel:
It’s an unrestricted, infinite, eternal love. There’s no constraint on the love of God. The only thing that stops us experiencing it is us.
The wounded man experienced the love of the Good Samaritan because he recognised his position. He saw what he was—an enemy. If we’re going to experience the love of God, we need to see ourselves the same way: not sufficient in ourselves, wounded, left for dead by sin, needing Christ to come to us.
The priest and the Levite are a picture of religion. Religion can pass you by. It can condemn you. It can see that you’re helpless, but it can’t move towards you and do anything for you. Only the love of Christ can help a person.
