I think at some point in our lives we have all heard the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10). Here is a summary of the story. A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. This man fell among thieves. A priest comes by and a Levite comes by (both men should have helped him), but they pass on the other side. A Samaritan comes along and stops and helps the man. This was significant because Jews and Samaritans did not get along. The Samaritan in the one you would least expect to help the man. The Samaritan puts oil on his wounds, binds him, puts him on his donkey and takes him to a hotel. He tell the innkeeper that he will pay any additional expenses for the man on his way back. Before Jesus told the parable, he asked who is my neighbor, that is, who qualifies as worthy of neighborly acts. Then Jesus tells the story about a man who was in trouble and who is in need of a neighbor. Jesus tells the story so that it is a stupid person who is in trouble and in need.
A very important point of this story is that you would not travel this road alone; you would travel in groups because this road was notoriously dangerous. This man should not have been traveling on this road alone. He was stupid. Not only was he stupid, he was really stupid. Jesus said he was robbed and beat up. Robbers around the world have a general ethic they follow. If you give them what they want, they usually don’t beat you up. If you resist, they will, more than likely, beat you up. So, we have a man traveling on a very dangerous road, alone, with merchandise, and when they tried to rob him, he resisted. He was not just stupid, he was really stupid!
I think the purpose of the parable is to show God’s values. Even if a person is in trouble because of their own stupidity, they are worthy of our neighborliness and our charity. We tend to be more willing to help those who are innocent victims. It is much harder to help someone and have compassion on someone who got in trouble because of an addiction, a weakness, and hanging around the wrong people. People are people. The bottom line for Jesus followers is to help human beings, even really stupid human beings, and not just some human beings. This is a very difficult parable to live, but not an impossible one to live.
Are there some really stupid people from which you have been withholding neighborliness and charity? Even if they got in trouble because of their own stupidity, in Jesus’ eyes, they are worthy of your compassion.
Tell me what you think.
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February 9th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Valuable insight. Thank you very much. I’ll have to take this into consideratoin. A lot of the homeless people downtown get this kind of treatment all the time…even by the likes of myself.
February 9th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Great point here Big P
I wish more people had this perspective. I think we’ve all been stupid at times in our lives. We need more good Samaritans!
February 12th, 2009 at 9:30 am
My first inclination is to laugh at this guy because I have never heard him depicted in that light. Everyone on the West side of Chicago knows not to be caught on Homan and Lake after dark. So if you found someone hurt there on that road, your first question would be “What were you doing over here this time of night???” HA! Funny! But since we all have been that REALLY stupid person before, then I thank God that he has made provision for rescue even in the most brain-less decisions that I made. What’s even more awesome is that he desires to give us His Wisdom, that we might never walk the same dumb “road” twice. Thanks for the laugh and the insight! Grace and Peace~G