Samaritan’s were a mixed race; they also had a corrupted form of religion. They and the Jews usually did not have good relationships with each other, and there was often a spirit of hatred and hostility manifested between them, leading the woman in John 4:9 to say “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” But Jesus was different. His was a spirit of love and compassion for all races and peoples for God “has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth” Acts 17:26. An expert in Jewish law (Lawyer) approached Jesus one day asking what he had to do to inherit eternal life, Luke 10:25-37. Jesus asked him what the law said, to which he replied “Love the Lord your God…and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus then replied “…do this and you will live.” However with our prejudices and fallen nature it is impossible to keep the law without God’s redemption; the Lawyer looking for a “loophole” asks “who is my neighbor?” Jesus then told the, story of an apparently Jewish man that was attacked, stripped, beaten, robbed, and left by the side of the road. Two fellow Jews, religious leaders, came by, saw him, and left him lay by the road; when religion takes on a “holier than you” attitude, Isaiah 65:5, it is obnoxious to God! Then a despised Samaritan came by, stopped, dressed his wounds, and took care of him at his own expense. Jesus asked the Lawyer which of these three was a neighbor to the one that fell among thieves, to which he replied “He who showed mercy on him.” Jesus said “Go and do likewise.” On these two commandments, to love God and our neighbor, Jesus said, “hang all the law and the prophets” Matthew 22:37-40. Love spans all barriers, and Romans 13:9-10 show us how it is the fulfillment of the law
The Good Samaritan
By Rose Hill
A Samaritan traveling on the road one day,
Saw a man in need along the way.
He had been robbed and left to die,
And other people had passed him by.
But this Samaritan compassion showed,
He acted as the neighbor to the one by the road.
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission.