The parable about the good Samaritan

ByPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 5 minutes
Welcome, dear friends!May the mercy and peace from the Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied unto you! Yesterday we spoke about how God helps us to develop divine compassion for other people and transforms us into likeness of Christ through our ministry. Let’s read the parable about the good Samaritan, written in the Gospel of Luke. 
«Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, 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?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbour to him who fell among the robbers?” He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”» (Luke 10:25-37).
 We can see four types of people in this parable: the victim, the robbers, the indifferent and the compassionate people. A Victim – is a person who has suffered from the hands of mean people. This type of person represents those miserable and injured people around us, those people to whom God wants to show His love and mercy. In this parable the victim is the man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers – are those who constantly humiliate other people, take their property away, thinking that all that belongs to others belongs to them as well, so they keep on looking for opportunity to embezzle or seize other people’s stuff. This type of people abuses others in order to achieve their own goals. In this parable robbers are represented by bandits, who both stripped the stranger and beat him, and then departed, leaving him half dead. Here we can see the picture of the highest level of selfishness and the true condition of the unbelieving heart. Those robbers had a need of something that they found in the hands of their victim. They needed what the man had right on the spot and at the same moment they met their victim. Robbers do not care about how their needs are met; any means is good for them. That’s why they attacked an innocent person, took everything away from him and left him half dead on the road. This is the picture of what is happening in our world today. Selfishness causes people to do evil things such as, killing, cheating, and robbery, abusing others an so on. Meanwhile, there is another type of people, – the indifferent people. Indifferent are those who believe that everything they possess belongs to them alone. They are focused purely on themselves. In this parable indifferent people are represented by the priest and the Levite. They saw the half dead man bleeding and despite that they walked past him. There are many reasons why people are indifferent to others. Haste is one reason why people have no time to slow down and help others around them who are in need. “I’ve got no time, I am in a hurry!” – that is how many people reply when somebody turns to them asking for help. Indifferent people are only concerned about their own problems and they are constantly in their own world thinking about how to solve their own problems. God acts in a totally different way. His grace and compassion is poured out on everyone who approaches Him. 
« Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest .» (Matthew 11:28).
 Tomorrow we will talk about the fourth category of people represented in this parable – the compassionate people. May you recognize the opportunities granted to you by God to manifest His love and compassion towards other people today! Remember, it’s better to give than to receive.  Rufus AJiboye, pastor

Similar Posts

  • God is the only one who knows the true meaning of human life

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    We are saved by Jesus Christ not by our deeds, to be followed by good deeds God has determined for us. Once we realise that He created us, we understand that our life on this Earth is absolutely meaningless without Him, without relationship and collaboration with God. Without Him we would resemble those who lack brain, wandering in the desert, having no certain way to go. Therefore, such people walk in the dark without light, staggering like a drunken man.«He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man.» (Job 12:24-25).

  • We are hands, feet, mouth and heart of our God

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    We concluded that we are hands, feet, mouth and heart of our God. If we refuse to collaborate with God, He will not be able to act or fulfil His plan in our cities and our countries. We stopped at what do we have to do in order to witness spiritual revival filling our cities? To make it happen we must become obedient disciples of Jesus Christ. God uses this kind of people to fulfil His prophesies and restore His will on Earth.Obedient disciple is one who moves and works for God, not sitting and doing nothing, so God can move through such person.

  • God’s Word being the best means of cleansing for a human heart

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    God cleanses me through His Word, so I have to be absorbed in it daily. It might seem to you that you are not getting anything out of it, but it is not so. When we read the Word, we receive deep cleansing, just like people get clean when they bathe. It must be done as often as possible so we would stink spiritually. If you start to notice that you are getting quick-tempered, it means you need to wash it off. If you notice your heart closing up, it means you are not reading the Word and missing the cleansing. If you notice things that do not comply with Christian standards, for example, picking a quarrel, it is a sign of not being in the Word enough.

  • How we gain or receive the Fear of God in our life?

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    First, we must choose with our will to have the fear of God above all else. Proverbs 1:29 says, “Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord…” God will not give this fear to us unless we want it. We must see this as something we choose above all else because we desperately need it.

  • Calling forth convincing and irrefutable proof! II

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles”(Psalm 34:17). God hears you when you cry out to Him and not when you sink in our despair and misery, when you grumble and ‘have pity parties’. There is a cry of faith, which God always hears, because He finds a call for help and intervention in it. In this prayer cry God sees faith in Righteous, Just, Loving and Almighty God.

  • The lordship of Jesus Christ III

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    God reigns on the earth and in heaven. When we talk about the lordship of Jesus, we mean that His rule covers everything and everybody. We have already mentioned that God has shared His rule with the mankind, having entrusted people with authority and dominion on the earth. Adam and Eve were given authority to rule on the earth, because God Himself wanted that.