Luke : Day 22

Read Luke 10: 25-42

You will probably know of the Samaritans helpline – that name comes from the character described here by Jesus in one of His best-known stories. But who were the Samaritans in the first century, and what was Jesus’ point?

The Samaritans lived next to the Jews, but were hated because they were descended from Israelites who had married people from other nations, and because they had mixed worship of God with other religions. The Samaritans returned this hatred, and the two groups had nothing to do with each other.

On this occasion, an ‘expert in the law’ tried to catch Jesus out with a tricky question. “How do I gain eternal life?” Jesus simply affirmed what the expert already knew: by loving God and neighbour perfectly. The expert felt that Jesus had made him look silly so he tried again: Who counts as my neighbour? Who does God expect me to love?

Some Jewish teachers taught that non-Jewish people did not count as neighbours. But Jesus challenged this expert’s thinking. In His story, a Samaritan showed love to a man who would normally have been his enemy. Jesus challenged the expert to stop thinking about which groups of people he wasn’t expected to love, and instead to be a neighbour to all people.

Jesus had such a great way of getting to the real problem! He showed the religious elite how they had misunderstood God’s heart of love. But surely none of us can say we have always loved others in this way, never mind loving God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind! (verse 27) Therefore, as the Bible teaches, we should all miss out on eternal life.

But that’s where the Jesus the Rescuer steps in. He shows the same kind of love as the character in His story. The Samaritan came to the help of the wounded man, lifting him up and taking him to a place of safety. Jesus wants to act as your Rescuer, lifting you up from your position of helplessness – because by yourself you have no hope of eternal life – and bringing you into the family of God. He is the best neighbour we could ever hope for.

"...when he saw him, he took pity on him".

Luke 10:33