Bible Studies

Who Is the Good Samaritan In Your Life?

by Andrew Tuttle
03/25/21
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It never ceases to amaze me just how little I know about the Bible and therefore Christianity.

I’m not talking about just now discovering the Sermon on the Mount. Or realizing Saul persecuted Christians, had a vision, changed his name and became one of the biggest evangelists on Christ’s behalf. I’m not talking about anything that is primarily taught in Sunday School and then slowly de-sanitized as one gets older.

The reality in my mind is that much of what we learn at a young age is pretty much the same thing as we get older. Seriously, how many times do you get the same sermon on Easter and Christmas Eve? It’s typically no different than the previous year’s just perhaps a little bit peppier or boring than the last one. Of course it always serves as a good reminder of Christ’s birth or resurrection and perhaps a nugget of information cements a little longer this time around than it did the last time.

What I am talking about is really diving deep into the context of the Bible and actually learning what a particular passage or event meant to the people living 2,000 years ago. This to me is what churches have been delinquent on for decades. How can Christians be defenders of the faith if they don’t know what they are talking about? The Bible is so watered down I’d be willing to bet most faithful followers of Jesus Christ know very, very little about the Bible and the history revealed inside its pages.

Case in point: The Good Samaritan.

Just another Sunday School feel good story about how to treat others, right? Love your neighbor as yourself. And of course over time we come to learn to love our enemies. All correct and all good values we should take with us as we leave church and continue on with our day and week.

But that’s not even half of it.

The Good Samaritan isn’t about two selfish jerks who couldn’t be bothered with a dying man and a third who took pity. To really understand this story is to know the context and understand the Middle East culture two millennia ago.

The reality is the two men who refused to help the dying man were likely carrying grain offerings down a 17 mile trail known as the “Way of Blood” from Jerusalem to Jericho. These men were holy men (a priest and a Levite) and to be in contact with a dead body would have required them to return to Jerusalem and cleanse themselves for a week. They in fact were commanded NOT to come in contact with a dead body and in some customs their shadow crossing a dead body would have left them unclean.

The two men ultimately chose holiness over helping the dying man.

Now for the Samaritan. This story is so resonating that the United States actually has Good Samaritan laws. (I’m surprised someone hasn’t sued to change the name.) But what I didn’t know nor do I think most Christians know is what a Samaritan is and what a Samaritan meant to the people of their time which further explains just how radical Jesus came across.

Samaritans were Hated with a capital H. Think on the level of a Nazi to a Jew, a KKK member to a black man or suicide bomber to an American. Back then, a Samaritan was the product of a Jew marrying a non-Jew. Samaritans had a different Torah, different priests and were pretty much considered dastardly people of the day. In essence, a Samaritan was an abomination to a Jew.

So in Luke 10:25-37 the expert of the law, or lawyer, questioning Jesus on how to inherit eternal life learns the most despicable kind of human - the one who saved the dying man’s life - is a hero. And Jesus says to follow the Samaritan’s lead.

Shockingly, I received this sermon at church. The truth behind the Samaritan story was unknown to me. A church that digs below the surface and peels away all the onion layers of the Bible does more for its members, more for Christ and more for the world than anything I can think of. How now does one who hears the context of the Good Samaritan not walk away with some serious thinking to do?

The spouse in a bitter custody battle. The rude next door neighbor making your life hell. The “Christian” couple ripping off their own church. The boss who seems bent on getting you fired. Donald Trump and those who voted for him. Joe Biden and those who voted for him. The atheist who will sue to change the name of the Good Samaritan law.

God calls us to pray blessings upon the Samaritans in our life. We all have our own Samaritans. It may be an individual, a family or even a group or people. And it will be hard but God commands us to pray for those people.

So, who is the Samaritan in your life?