The Parable of the Good Samaritan (2020)
By: Bradley Neece
Tags: Compassion, Christianity, Good Samaritan, Jesus Christ, Love

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

He (Jesus) said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

— — — — —

Jesus replied (my words):

It is a bone-chilling but sunny, Sunday afternoon during Christmastime. Colin Kaepernick and two well-known hardcore liberal men were walking west on a highly trafficked road in America.

While walking, they were attacked by thugs who relentlessly beat them with bats and pipes. Their clothes were torn from their bodies. They left them naked and unconscious. They left them to die.

Moments later, vehicle after vehicle of self-proclaiming Christians traveling from the east and west, went by at a crawl. Traffic was nearly gridlocked.

As they drove by they craned their necks to look at the men, bloodied and bruised, lying on the shoulder of the road, lifeless.

The passersby had just gotten out of church. They were Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Catholics, Church of Christers, Pentecostals, and Non-Denominationalists. Every denomination was represented on the road that day.

Some were on their way to the mall to shop for Christmas presents while others were on their way home to decorate for Christmas.

Everybody was in a festive mood ~ listening to Oh Holy Night on the radio, singing along as they passed by.

At church, they had just heard for the umpteenth time about the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World ~ God becoming flesh. They heard that he came into the world to usher in a new way ~ relationship instead of religion. And that there was a new law. The new law was love. They were reminded of Paul’s words in Romans 13:

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

They were also reminded of Jesus’ words in Luke 6:

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

No Christians stopped to help the men. They all drove by. Later that evening, the road became barren and the cold had become more bitter. Everyone was home. Warm. Comfortable. Bellies full. Joyful.

The men, however, were on the cusp of death.

A homeless man with an empty stomach and inadequate clothing, who claimed to be an atheist, came upon the men. Overcome with compassion, he helped the men. One by one, he put the men over his shoulder and carried them a mile to the place where he sleeps ~ just outside a dilapidated building in a once-thriving area of downtown. Once the man had gotten all of them safely there, he shredded with his bare hands, the only blanket he had. He bandaged their wounds with it. With his only remaining clothes, he clothed them.

After a few days, the three men began showing signs of life. Eventually, their full health returned.

— — — — —

Who do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”