The story of the good Samaritans

　Christ used the parable of the good Samaritans to illustrate the essence of true religion. He pointed out that true religious belief does not lie in institutions, creeds, or rituals; It lies in acts of benevolence, in seeking the greatest happiness for others, in pure kindness.

　　Just as Christ was teaching, "a teacher of the law rose up and tested Jesus and said, 'Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' The audience waited with bated breath for Jesus' answer. The priests and rabbis wanted to trap Christ in trouble by asking the questions of the lawyers. But the Savior did not argue, but asked the questioner to answer his own question. He said, "What is written in the law? What do you pronounce?" The Jews accused Jesus of belittling the law promulgated on Mount Sinai; He turned the question of salvation to obeying God's commandments.

　　The Master of the Law said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your might; And love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said, "You answered yes." If you do this, you will have eternal life. ”

　　The law master was not satisfied with the attitude and behavior of the Pharisees. He studied the Bible with a quest to understand the true meaning of the texts. He was so concerned about this matter that he asked sincerely, "What should I do?" In his own answer, his requirements for the law were not a bunch of ritual and ritual dogmas. He thinks it's all worthless. He laid out only two outlines on which all the law and the prophets depended. This answer, praised by Christ, gave the Savior an advantage over the rabbis. They cannot condemn a lawyer's sin on the basis that Jesus endorsed what he said.

　　Jesus said, "If you do this, you will have eternal life." He explained that the law is a holy whole and taught us not to keep this one and break that; Because there is a principle that connects each one. Man's end must be determined by whether he obeys all the laws or not. To love God supremely, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is a principle that must be fulfilled in life.

　　The law felt like a lawbreaker. He felt guilty because of Christ's sharp words. He claimed to understand the justice of the law, but he did not practice it. He did not practice love on his fellow man, and he must repent; But instead of repenting, he wanted to show his reason. Instead of acknowledging the truth, he wanted to point out how difficult the commandments are to implement. In this way, he hopes to avoid the reproach of conscience on the one hand, and to defend himself in front of everyone on the other. The Savior's words have proved that the lawyer's questions are superfluous because He himself can answer them. Then he asked another question, saying, "Who is my neighbor?" ”

　　This question is often the subject of endless debate among Jews. The Gentiles and Samaritans cannot be counted as neighbors, and this is fine with them; Because these are foreigners, enemies. But how should the lines be drawn among the different strata of the Jewish people and society? Priests, rabbi, elders, who should they consider neighbors? They spend their lives in rituals in circles and practice self-purification. They also taught that contact with ignorant and rude commoners would lead to filth, and that it would take a lot of trouble to remove it later. Can they treat the "unclean" as neighbors?

　　This time, Jesus did not let people drag him into the vortex of debate. He does not condemn the bigotry of those who spy on him and condemn him. With a simple story, he opened the audience to a picture of love from heaven, which touched the hearts of the people, and the law teacher had to admit the truth.

　　The way to dispel darkness is to let the light penetrate; The trick to combating falsehood is to show the truth. Only the revelation of God's love can expose the ugliness and sin of selfishness.

　　Jesus said, "A man went down to Jericho from Jerusalem and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him half to death, and left him behind. Occasionally a priest came down from this road and saw him passing over there. Another Levite came to this place, saw him, and passed over from there. "This is not a fictional story, it's a true thing. And everyone knows that what Jesus said is exactly what happened. The priests and Levites from there in the story also happened to be among Christ's listeners.

　　From Jerusalem to Jericho, one must pass through a section of wilderness in the land of Judea. The road is an empty, rocky deep valley, often infested by robbers, cutting paths to rob passers-by. The man was killed here, and everything of value was robbed, beaten to death, and thrown on the side of the road. At that time, a priest came from this road and looked only at the wounded. Then came a Levitical man, curious to know what had happened, and stopped to look at the suffering. He knows what he should do, but it's a laborious duty. He really wished he hadn't walked this path so he wouldn't have seen this injured man. But he finally decided not to worry about himself and turned away.

　　Both held priesthood and considered themselves to be familiar with the Bible. They are specially chosen to represent God among the people and should "be considerate of the foolish and lost" (Hebrews 5:2) so that they may understand God's great love for mankind. The work they are called to do is what Jesus says he will do. He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He anointed me and told me to preach the gospel to the poor; Send me to report that the captives may be released, that the blind may see, that the oppressed may be set free. (Luke 4:18)

　　The angels of heaven, seeing the suffering of those in God's family on earth, are ready to cooperate with others to relieve their oppression and suffering. God had done his own will to pass the priests and the Levites past the wounded man's place where he was lying, so that they might see that the man needed mercy and help. The Heavenly Court is watching to see if these two people have compassion for their compatriots. It was Jesus the Savior who taught the Hebrews in the wilderness in ancient times. His lessons from the pillars of cloud and fire were very different from what people now receive from priests and teachers. The benevolent letter of the law at that time included even lower animals that could not express their needs and pain in words. God told Moses to instruct the Israelites, "If you meet your enemy's ox or donkey and get lost, bring it back and give it to him." If you see a donkey that hates you lying under a heavy donkey, do not walk away, but carry it away with the donkey owner. (Exodus 23:4, 5) But the man Jesus spoke of who was wounded by robbers was a brother who suffered. Shouldn't the priests and the Levites have more compassion for their brothers than for the heavy livestock? Through the message that God preached to them through Moses, their Jehovah God was "the greatest God, mighty and mighty," and "He vindicated the orphans and widows and had mercy on the sojourners." So he commanded, "Therefore have mercy on those who live in sojourners." "Love him as yourself." (Deuteronomy 10:17-19; Leviticus 19:34)

　　Job once said, "I have never allowed a guest to stay in the street, but I have opened the door to meet the passers-by." When Lot saw two angels disguised as ordinary men arriving at Sodom, he bowed down and said, "O my Lord, please go to the servant's house and wash your feet and stay overnight." (Job 31:32; Gen. 19:2) These lessons were familiar to the priests and the Levites but they did not apply them in real life. Educated with national prejudice, they develop a selfish, narrow-minded and xenophobic mentality. So when they saw the wounded man, because they were not sure that he was their own kind, they thought that he might be a Samaritan, so they turned and walked away.

　　Christ's account of the priests and the Levites did not seem to the law to contradict the laws he had learned. But then another scene was placed in front of him:

　　A Samaritan passed by and saw the wounded man and moved his heart to compassion. He did not ask whether the stranger was Jewish or Gentile. He knew very well that if it was he who had hurt himself when their situation was reversed, and it was the Jew who was walking, then the Jew would have spat in his face and walked away contemptuously. But he did not hesitate because of this, nor did he consider that he would be robbed if he stayed there. He only saw in front of him a suffering and needy help, and he had no time to care. He took off his coat and covered it for him; Take the oil and wine he had prepared on the road to heal the wounded man and sober him. He helped him mount his own cattle and walked slowly step by step, lest he suffer more from the bumps. He took him to the inn and took care of him overnight. The next morning, the Samaritans, seeing that the man had improved, were relieved to hurry their way. But before he left, he entrusted the man to the shopkeeper, paid the bill, and took some money and stored it in the shop for his use. But even he was afraid that he would not be thoughtful, so he prepared him again, and said to the shopkeeper: "You will take care of him, and I will pay you back for anything else." ”

　　This is the end of the story. So Jesus fixed his eyes on the lawyer, as if he had seen through his heart, and said, "Which of these three do you think is a neighbor who has fallen into the hands of robbers?" ”

　　At this time, the law was reluctant to say the name Samaritans from his mouth; He only replied, "Have mercy on him." Jesus said, "Go and do the same!" ”

　　"Who is my neighbor?" This problem has since been completely solved. Christ has shown that our neighbors are not just people of the same church and faith as us. Neighbors do not discriminate by race, color, or class. Whoever needs our help is our neighbor. Everyone who is ravaged and wounded by the enemy is our neighbor. Everyone who belongs to God is our neighbor.

　　Jesus used the story of the good Samaritans to describe himself and his mission. People have been deceived, hurt, robbed, corrupted, and left to the side of the road to die, but the Savior has been moved by the mercy of our poor situation. He gave up His glory to save us. When He saw that we were about to die, he volunteered to take responsibility for our lives. He healed our wounds, covered us with His prosthetic robe, opened a safe refuge for us, and arranged everything for us at His own expense. He laid down His life to redeem us. Pointing to his example, he said to his disciples, "I have commanded you to love one another. "As much I love you, so shall you." (John 15:17; 13:34)

　　The question the law teacher asked Jesus was, "What shall I do?" Acknowledging the general principle of righteousness in loving God and loving man, Jesus said, "If you do this, you will have eternal life." The Samaritan, who obeyed the drive of mercy and love, proved that he was a law-keeper. Christ commanded the lawyers, "Go and do the same!" "It can be seen that what is sought from the children of God is practiced and not talked." If a man says that he dwells in the Lord, he should do it himself. (1 John 2:6)

　　The world today needs this lesson as much as in Jesus' day. Selfishness and cold formalism almost extinguish the flame of love and destroy the virtues that make human character fragrant. Many who confess the name of the Lord forget that the responsibility of Christians is to represent Christ. If we are not in the family, in the neighborhood, in the church, or wherever we can give ourselves up in practice, then no matter what we profess, we cannot be considered Christians.

　　Christ cares about the world, and He wants us to be united with Him in the salvation of mankind. He said, "If you have come in vain, you will give it away in vain." (Matthew 10:8) Sin is the source of all suffering and affliction, so it is our duty to have mercy on and help those who sin. Many people who have made mistakes feel ashamed, self-aware of ignorance, and eager to hear a few words of encouragement. Their eyes are fixed on their own faults and mistakes, driven to the point of almost despair. We cannot ignore such people. If we are Christians, we should not pass by them, we should not hide from those who need our help most. When we see others suffering because of affliction or sin, never say that it has nothing to do with me.

　　"Let your spiritual man bring him back with a gentle heart." (Galatians 6:1) Repel the forces of the enemy by faith and prayer; To say words of faith and courage makes the traumatized listen like a bruise with ointment. There are many, many people who have become discouraged in the great struggle of life, and it only takes a word of love and encouragement to them to strengthen them and make them victorious. We must not neglect to comfort everyone who suffers with God's comfort.

　　All this fulfills the principles of the law. This principle is stated in the story of the good Samaritan; This is also shown in the life of Jesus. His character demonstrated the true meaning of the law and showed what it meant to love one's neighbor as oneself. When God's children show mercy, love, and love to all, they bear witness to the true meaning of God's statutes. They testify that "the law of the Lord is perfect and awakens." (Psalm 19:7) Whoever fails to manifest this love is breaking the law that he claims to honor. Because the spirit we show to our brothers speaks to the spirit of our treatment of God. The only driving force that makes us love our neighbor is God's love in our hearts. "If a man says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is lying, but if he does not love his brother who sees, how can he love God who he does not see?" Beloved, "If we love one another, God lives in us, and the love of Him is perfected in us." (1 John 4:20, 12)