The rest of this story proves the Samaritan man was the true “neighbor” to this half dead person.
He showed compassion, and Jesus said in verse 37,
“Go and do likewise.”
Jesus was asked the question of, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The question showed up nineteen times, in different ways, throughout His ministry.
No one in the history of the world has ever lived and performed perfectly, 100% of the time. Every single day, without fail, no one has loved God with all their heart, and their neighbor as himself.
Impossible, because we are frail, humans who sin sometimes.
We fall short in our sin, which is rebellion against God, and He deserves all the Glory. Romans 3:23.
We will never live up to perfection, but by God’s grace and mercy, you and I can strive to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind, and our neighbor as ourselves.
Luke 10:27.
Be careful though.
Decide today where you are at spiritually.
Good?
Bad?
or Forgiven?
Like Clint Eastwood, the good one, we are only good because of Jesus. If you and I do not love who we are in Christ, we will not have the capacity to love anyone. Including our neighbor.
Like Angel Eyes, in the movie, he was a murderer for hire.
He was truly bad to the bone.
We were like that too, before we met our Savior, Jesus.
Some of us were master sinners, expert manipulators, and if we were addicted, we used and abused everyone around us.
Especially our family. We murdered them, without killing them.
We became emotional stranglers, killers for hire.
Choking out the family finances for our selfish gains.
We did this to get what we wanted, no matter what the cost.
The wreckage of our past is dead in a graveyard. Once Jesus forgives us, the bones without a grave, can never be dug up.
Nor can they be kept in a closet, to pull out to kill again.
They are all under the Blood of Jesus Christ, when we repent of our killing attitudes and actions.
Like the assassin, our murdering attitudes affected and then INFECTED all who were in our path.
Our disease was thrust upon them, and they got sick.
Sick of us, and then mentally, emotionally, and physically dying on the inside; we left them to die a slow, arduous death.
In verse 29 of Luke 10, that lawyer wanted to justify himself when talking to Jesus. He tried to cross-examine Jesus, so to speak, by asking,
“Who is my neighbor?”
Then, Jesus tells His story. Luke 10: 30-37.
Look at what the Samaritan did! This person was GOOD, not bad, and not ugly, in any way.
He truly loved this man, unconditionally. Fully. Jesus shows here in this story, true love.
The Samaritan did not ask for anything in return. His motivations were pure. This injured, and HALF-DEAD man, was not the Samaritan's close friend or family.
The Samaritan did not know this dying man at all.
Samaritan people did not get along with Jews.
They were divided by racial and ethnic barriers. For many reasons, the Jews called Samaritan’s “half-breeds.” The Jews would send them away.
Samaritans built their own temples which Jews considered Pagan.
This feud grew and by the time Christ came, the Jews hated the Samaritans, so much so, that they would cross the Jordan River rather than travel through Samaria.
After Israel’s fall to the Assyrians, they intermarried with the Assyrians, contrary to Deuteronomy 7: 3-5, that taught against these relationships in a marriage.
This is one reason why the Jews hated the Samaritans.
“You are dogs,” they would say.
They treated them even worse than the vulgar name calling.
I would consider the attitudes and behaviors of these people as: “UGLY.”
Bad too, but ugly in their sins.
We had the GOOD with the Samaritan.
The BAD would be that priest who ignored the dying man.
Some priest.
Perhaps he should be demoted for his selfishness, and ignorance of the Law.
The Levite, verse 32, came.
He looked at the dying man’s condition and passed by on the other side.
He was bad, but more so, cruel.
The Samaritans were a constant source of difficulty to the Jews who rebuilt Jerusalem after returning from Babylonian captivity. Ezra 4:10, and Nehemiah 4:12.
These prejudices prevailed then and live today.
Americans used to be gracious and loving to their neighbors. I am not painting all Citizens of the United States as cruel and obnoxious. I am trying to help us see how far we have come from the story in Luke, to today.
In many ways, it is worse now.
I know, because I grew up in the “Leave it to Beaver” era.
Mom stayed home, cooked and cleaned, and prepared the house to be made into a home. A respectful job and calling back then.
Not to be ridiculed, or put down, because a “homemaker” was a true gift.
In grade school, I Pledged my Allegiance to the Flag. The Principle came across the loudspeaker every morning in “homeroom,” and prayed, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Once some women (not all), in the 1960s decided to burn their bras, all hell broke loose spiritually in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
It became, the Land of the living dead, and the home of our Veterans of War, living on the streets in cardboard boxes.
It took “bravery” to live on the streets of Chicago or the Bronx.
I was homeless myself, and I know the looks down the noses of people, who thought I was not worth a handout.
I have never begged for anything.
Even when I was an addict, I still worked a job full time.
Women’s liberation or the Feminist movement, was widely recognized as having begun in the sixties, but the emergence of various organizations with activism, focused on issues like reproductive rights, equal pay, and challenging traditional gender roles.
“Tell that to Mrs. Cleaver and her husband Ward.”
Beaver Cleaver did not need a pronoun called he or whatever!
This is not a joke, or a put down regarding equal pay for equal work.
It is a spiritual decay of sorts.
Tell me,
“Who leaves their front door unlocked in America today In 2025?”
Anyone?
No, of course not.
This is not the era now. This is the era of fear.
How can we love our neighbor, if we do not even know their names?
Communities have locked gates at night.
The homeowners' associations charge a bunch of money every month to monitor the weeds in your flower bed, and then send you an eviction notice if you do not pull the “one” weed they photographed, within 24 hours.
Neighborhood watch?
How about watch your neighbor closely, and help them when you see a need arise.
This Samaritan had compassion for the dying man.
Sympathetic pity, or feeling sorry for others, and feeling their pain, is what true love is all about.
I do not want to be found as Good only, or Bad, or Ugly.
Only forgiven.
Daily, hourly, and minute by minute, if needed.
Being cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus, is better than any other spiritual dynamic that the world offers.
The Denari was what the Good Samaritan gave to the innkeeper to aid in the healing of the beaten man.
One Denari in today’s monies is around $200.00.
He gave two Denari.
The average day’s wages then were one Denari.
Today, a young 21-year-old air-conditioning man came to repair our system that was not working.
It was 88 degrees outside today in Texas. Inside, without air, it got up to 76.
Not a fun thing when I had been working outside all day building a chicken coop.
He arrived, and within two minutes diagnosed the problem.
I asked him his name, and he said, “Micah.”
I responded, “Thats a Bible name.”
He replied, “Jesus is good to me.”
OH BOY, this is not about an air conditioner.
My spiritual antennas were up.
Once he finished the repair, he was loading his work truck, when I asked,
“Can I pray for you?”
I shared what happened to me when I was 21, and he responded,
“I am glad I did not have to go through that.”
He took off his hat, and humbled himself, and I prayed for him, and spoke encouragement to him.
He was only 21 but had been a repair man since he was 17 out of high school.
He was not a bleeding man on the side of the road. He was not in need of anything, except, maybe, a prayer.
He became a new friend to me.
He is my neighbor.
He works about 5 miles from where we live, but it is the “neighbor” attitude of love that makes us neighbors.
It is Jesus which we have in common.
I was so glad to have the air fixed, but happier to meet a young, 21-year-old Godly young man who is a hard worker.
It reminds me of how things used to be, way back when.
If a neighbor next door needed a cup of sugar, they went next door and knocked on the door. The woman who was there, (homemaker, not home alone) saw the empty cup and smiled.
She knew what she needed. Sugar.
No strings attached. No expectations. No monies exchanged hands.
And as a good neighbor, you and I should mow the grass next door.
If it is in need, do it.
These are simple situations requiring simple answers.
Find a need. Fill the need.
Like the Samaritan, just love people, regardless of how they look.
No matter if they are Good, Bad, or Ugly.
Perhaps, they will see your good works and good deeds and eventually become Forgiven by Jesus.
I would rather see a sermon than hear one any day.
“How about you, neighbor?”
Copyright © 2025 by Joe Wilkins
