Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

And behold a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it."

The parable of the good Samaritan is probably one of the most familiar of all of Jesus’ parables. How many times have you heard it expounded on in sermons? Perhaps you may be wondering this morning about whether you really need to hear yet another one. . . Well, yes you do, and here it comes! This parable has been in the Church’s lection for centuries and when understood aright, it packs a powerful message. Often, however, sermons about it have delivered a watered-down message by lifting it out of its context, and turning it into a comfortable lesson in easy morality.

So often this parable has depicted Jesus as merely teaching people how to be more civil and neighborly toward others, especially those in need. The point focuses on the behavior of the Samaritan in the story who becomes labeled the Good Samaritan, because he did the good and neighborly thing by helping a man who had been victimized by robbers. Then, a moral of the story is fashioned: God would consider us to be good folks as well, if we would take up a good neighborly lifestyle with others as well.

The context of the parable, and the reason for Jesus telling it, however, points our attention to far more important matters. The occasion of the parable, involved a confrontation between Jesus and a Jewish expert in the law of Moses. The question is asked of Jesus, what must I do and keep on doing to inherit eternal life? The legal expert asks the question in an effort to justify himself, that somehow he might make himself acceptable to God by actually fulfilling the demands of the Law.

There are three important issues that Jesus’ telling of this parable involves. They are all important as we would consider both the demands of the Law, and how it is that eternal life can be secured.

The first question is the obvious one. What has Jesus told us about the scope of those we must consider our neighbor as we would consider the second table of the Law: You shall love your neighbor as yourself? The answer to this question in the parable avoids two mistaken extremes. On the one hand, our neighbor is not simply anyone we notice who has a need. We are not called in our vocations to do everything for everyone, all the time. The designation neighbor in the summary of the Second Table of the Law is not synonymous with humanity, or even that part of humanity we see in our corner of the world. On the other hand, Jesus is clearly revealing in the parable that our neighbors are not simply comprised of those who make up our family, our friends, and those that we serve in our day-to-day vocational offices. Our neighbor also includes the stranger who may cross our path and is in dire need of our help. Yes, to be sure, neither the priest nor the Levite had the vocational office of paramedic. Yet, in emergency situations that we may come across, we do temporarily assume the tasks of offices we would not normally have. The Samaritan was neither a paramedic nor a regular healthcare provider. He is simply one who is compassionate and recognizes an obligation to a neighbor in dire need. He becomes a health care provider under emergency circumstances and renders first-aid. He then takes the individual to an extended care facility, and sees that the finances are covered for his recovery.

But now, what is the larger picture of this parable? When Jesus instructs the lawyer and each of us, to go and do like the Samaritan in the parable, is he intending to provide us with encouragement that we really can make some headway on securing eternal life by being more neighborly to those we come across who are really in need? Is he intending to commend the Law to us - with a right understanding of our neighbor - as the road for us to walk in the interests of securing our own salvation? The answer to this question is Yes and No. For those who are seeking, like the lawyer in the text, to justify themselves the answer is Yes. Here is your designated road to secure your own salvation . . . love your neighbor as yourself. Do this everywhere, all the time, and be sure to include all the hapless individuals you come across who are in dire need of your compassion and emergency care. Do this perfectly, under all circumstances, now and forever, and you shall inherit eternal life . . . that is, so long as you do it and everything in life out of a love for God that flows from the center of your being - your heart, mind, and soul. Yes, do this and eternal life is yours.

But the answer to the question, is this Jesus’ response to you concerning your eternal life if you see yourself as out of the running in fulfilling the demands of the Law . . . then the answer is NO. This parable is not a blueprint for you in how eternal life can confidently be secured. We need to remember that Jesus spoke about matters of the Kingdom in parables to those who would not listen. He used riddles so that they would hear, but not understand. The point is this. All clarifications of what the Law demands will not lead to the attainment of righteousness before God. It will either lead to repentance or rebellion, but sometimes even that will not happen. For those who will not listen to the Law’s impossible demands; for those who think that they are improving in their pursuit of righteousness before God; this parable will not wake them from their slumbering disillusionment. It will not produce either repentance or rebellion. It will just do what it did for the lawyer in the text. It will simply provide encouragement to go and do as the Samaritan as another element in your futile program of spiritual improvement.

What then does this text and the parable of the Good Samaritan have to offer those who have already despaired of any hope of justifying themselves before God? The answer to this question is tied up to rightly understanding the true identity of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan who truly does offer the key to the matter of attaining eternal life is not the one who is in the parable. That one is referred to by Jesus as simply a certain Samaritan. The Good Samaritan is the One who tells the parable. He is the one who provides not an example of how to fulfill the Law, He is One who delivers us from the Law and its impossible demands. Jesus is the Samaritan outcaste among the Jewish religious insiders who, when rightly understood fulfils the role of several in the parable. Jesus is the one who fell among those who would rob him of his honor and dignity . . . those who would leave him for dead on a cross among those who were certified robbers and thieves.

Yet, He is also the priest and the Levite. He is the High Priest, but from the royal house of David, who obediently offers up his temple before the mercy seat of God, sacrifice his body and shed his own blood as a once for all atonement for your sins. But then also by way of analogy, Jesus is the compassionate Samaritan who has come to rescue each of us who has been left for dead in our trespasses by the evil designs of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. He has seen your helpless and hopeless condition and taken you up into his arms and carried you to His Church and Kingdom where you may find rest, refreshment, and restoration from lethal wounds your sinful condition. You have been rescued. You have been victimized by those who would seek gain at the expense of your welfare - that is how it is in this fallen world - but the Lord has had compassion on you, saved you from a certain death, and given your life back to you.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the compassionate Good Samaritan, our Lord Jesus Christ, has come for you. . . not in riddles and parables, but in grace and truth. He has come not to provide encouragement and insight on how to obtain eternal life through the Law . . . Jesus, the Good Samaritan comes to you with the healing balm of his restoring forgiveness and his strong arm . . . to rescue you this day and every day from your lethal enemies which would leave you for dead. He comes as the world’s outcaste, truly the chief of sinners for he has born all of yours . . . and He has spared no expense . . . yes, paying the wages of sin which is death . . . that you might be restored and healed unto newness of life, to live with Him in His Kingdom forever. He has spotted you in the midst of your pain and desperation as you have been victimized by the evil forces and powers of this fallen world. He has come to your rescue. He has you in his strong arms, his healing is yours, and he will never let you go. You are safe at last. You are safe forever.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A-men.