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
