The Lawyer, the Dawning and the Good Samaritan

Recently, in a class I’m taking at Corban University, the professor asked us to look at Luke 10:25-37, the parable about the Good Samaritan, as if we were reading it for the first time. As I attempted this, unexpected thoughts came flooding in.

 

I was raised by a lawyer, entertained going to law school myself, but have instead worked in government for over 26 years. I understand, have written, and enforce statutes, rules, policies, and procedures. So for the first time, I somehow related to the lawyer, maybe I never have before because I know we typically want to point our fingers at him to condemn him as arrogant and bigoted; he’s the guy we don’t want to be. Could it be, however, that we all have a little bit of this guy in us?

Insecurity or More?

I’ve read commentaries that state his question about “who’s my neighbor” reveals insecurity. They’re probably right because the commentators are smarter than me, but could it be that the guy was really confused and scared that all he knew could be wrong? Yes, he's testing Jesus, and traditional thinking suggests he's motivated by wanting to make Jesus look bad so that he can look good to the religious leaders. But consider for a moment that he could also have a deeper desire to know what is truly right and wrong; and his position allows him access to Jesus to pose such questions. Maybe he’s a bureaucrat that really wants to do the “right thing” but Jesus is clearly revealing that “right” is different than what he’s ever known. If so, insecurity seems too simplistic a description; maybe he really wanted to know the truth but when the truth was revealed it over-amped his ability to process it immediately. As the parable progresses, it only adds to his confusion, but if he’s willing, it will also illuminate within him a deeper understanding.

Then there’s the record itself. A “certain man” goes from Jerusalem to Jericho. I think by implication we can assume he’s a Jew. He gets robbed and beaten up pretty badly. This is an ugly scene, but hopefully the “good guy” will come along to help this poor soul. Well, culturally, the good guy does indeed come along, in fact, he comes along in two ways—a priest and a Levite—and neither one stops to help. In fact, each goes out of his way to avoid helping what we assume to be a person just like them. So who does help him, the culturally prescribed bad guy—a Samaritan. Jesus has completely reversed the stereotypes of that day. Frankly, he’s also reversed the stereotypes of our day as well.

The Dawning

The record ends with the lawyer admitting that the one, the Samaritan, “who showed mercy” was the neighbor to the one that had been beaten up. Even though the lawyer wasn’t quite able to say the word ‘Samaritan’, he at least seems to grasp the teaching—a neighbor, a person helping another person—isn’t based on heritage or status, but on need. To “go and do likewise” is to recognize that God is not responding based on culture or social status, but on need and we’re called to do the same. To be like Jesus we need to be prepared to enter into the other person’s world with a heart of compassion, not judgment or condemnation. As we do this, we’ll begin to better understand that God is the God of all humanity, not just the God of our church, or race, or country. And remember, God states very clearly in Genesis that we are all made in His image.  And Jesus, God in the flesh, served those in need, Jews, Samaritans, and even Gentiles. 

Jesus, Healing and Wholeness

They always stood in the distance; outcast and ostracized. Things were so bad that they only had each other for company and had to yell, “Unclean” anytime a “normal” person approached. Such was the life of a leper in the Israel of Jesus’ time. And yet, when Jesus actually came into their vicinity, their desperation urged them on toward Jesus:

 

Now it happened as He (Jesus) went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as he entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

 

So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

 

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

 

So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19.)

 

These nine verses are packed with significant theological points about thankfulness, racism, salvation, humility, and other aspects as well. My focus for now, however, is the example of the engagement and inclusion of Jesus. He shows no favoritism or partiality (see Romans 2:11). These men are of differing nationalities but are all suffering from a highly contagious and lethal disease.   

 

Rather than avoid them, Jesus sought to bless them, to heal them, all of them. He didn’t quiz them on their politics or sexual practices or where they went to church. Instead, He heard their cries of anguish and responded with compassion.

 

This is the Jesus I read about and have fallen in love with. This is the Jesus I want my life to reflect. And while I know I have a long way to go to truly reflect this Jesus, He is patient with me and is patient with you as well.

 

So my question is who is your Jesus? Is He in a box of dogma, rules, and regulations; or is He truly alive as Scripture proclaims Him to be?

Faith Simplified

A.W. Tozer stated that faith “is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God.”  He also did a comparison of ‘looking’ in the Old Testament and ‘believing’ in the New Testament.  In this comparison he stated that eventually a plain man would come to understand that “‘looking’ on the Old Testament serpent [on the staff of Moses to get healing from snake bites] is identical with ‘believing’ on the New Testament Christ. That is, the looking and believing are the same thing.  And he would understand that while Israel looked with their external eyes, believing is done with the heart.  I think he would conclude that faith is the gaze of the soul upon a saving God” (The Pursuit of God, pp. 89-90). 

Tozer’s insight is tremendously helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of what faith really is.  For so many years I’ve heard people state that things didn’t work out the way I had hoped or prayed because I didn’t have enough faith.  But just what is enough faith?  Even Jesus blessed a man who admitted that he had both faith and unbelief (see Luke 9:24-25).   Jesus definitely encouraged the man and many others to grow in faith, but He never said that He would only work in the heart with zero doubt and 100% faith. 

Returning to Tozer’s work puts faith in an entirely different light.  Faith is not a commodity to gain more quantities of like the accumulation of useless stuff in our garage.  Faith is instead a state of continual affection; because that which we are most in love with is what we will think the most about and look to the most often.  We also need to remember another truism of the human soul in that we will turn to what we are most attracted to when times get rough.  Some turn to booze or drugs, some turn to their spouse, but others will turn in genuine faith and prayer to the Lord.  Of all these options, only the Lord will truly satisfy. 

Now I’m finally coming to realize, especially as I get older, that I’ve made faith entirely too complicated; an inner gaze upon the heart of Jesus is much simpler than all that striving and teeth-gritting.  It is amazing to think that an act of faith is as simple as pondering Jesus in silent contemplation.  I don’t always have to be doing something to “have faith,” I can just simply direct my thoughts up to the throne of God.  Taking each thought captive to Christ is an act of faith.  Praying about my concerns is also an act of faith.  From the Book of Psalms we find that crying out to God, whether in fear or anger, is also an act of faith. 

Having a simpler understanding of faith makes my heart even more grateful to our loving Heavenly Father.  Man has made faith a complex morass of works and proving grounds, while our Lord simply says, “Come to me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).