The story of the Good Samaritan will ever be a source of inspiration to me. It was spoken by the Master and the Lord, the king of glory. It was a story in response to a very pertinent question at the heart of man’s existence. The discreet lawyer enquired “And who is my neighbour? [Luke 10:29]”
To begin with it was a ‘certain man’, Luke 10:30, pointing to the fact that it could be anybody. He was on a journey and was waylaid by thieves; he was robbed, injured, beaten and left half dead; then the moment of truth and the unfolding of the true character of man. This true character is what the Lord wanted to expose by the parable.
Then the Lord begins in his wonderful teaching style to list the groups of people who found this dying man by the road side. The Priest and the Levite who were the so to say religious men whom people will call ‘Rabbi’. The Levite – those involved in the writing of the commandment, those who appeared to know the law inside out. It is ironical that they who seemed to know the commandment most are those who did not keep it. ‘They both passed on by the other side’, Luke 10:31, 32.
So many things could have run through their minds. “He is not my relation”, “This must have been a reward for his sins”, “Those who robbed him might still be lurking around, they might pounce on me too”, “What if he dies in my hands?”, “I can recognize him, he has offended me in the past and this is the time to repay him in his own coin”. Whatever their excuse, it was not a justification for abandoning the man on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Surprisingly it was the so called sinner that showed love. He cared and was genuinely interested in the plight of the injured, battered, wounded and half dead. The word says “He had compassion on him, he bound up his wounds, and he poured oil and wine. . . . He also told the owner of the inn ‘Take care of him, whatsoever thou spendest more I will repay’”,Luke 10:34-35. Oh how great and wonderful when there is true love, the world would have been a better place.
How many times have we met the half dead man between Jericho and Jerusalem but passed on the other side. How many times have we met those with injured emotions, injured feelings, broken dreams, and weird experiences, tortured souls, weighed down spirits? Those whom have been through the rough side of life, those who feel life has been very unfair to them, those in despair, those rattled with conflict within and without. Those who have known war all their lives, those whom have known poverty all their lives, those who have known hostility all their lives, those who lived in the slums all through their lives, those who lived in the Ghettos all through their lives.
Oh, how often are we not willing to identify with the brokenhearted, the poor, the needy, and the afflicted? We are more concerned about what we can make out of life. We are not willing to give a helping hand or a lending hand. Therefore the ‘Certain’ man who was wounded between Jericho and Jerusalem dies for lack of help. He is lost because man has passed to the other side for whatever reason.
My neighbour is anyone that needs help and I can help if even that help means a sacrifice
– lekan adekoya
