Luke 10:27 "And he answering said (to the lawyer), Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."The story is in response to "loving thy neighbor" (verse 27). In loving "thy neighbor" it's necessary to know who is "thy neighbor"! Of course it was a "lawyer" who needed a legal definition, not to find justice, but to find a loop hole for being unjust (tempted him or trying to trip him up), alluded to by "he trying to justify himself". Lawyers were not only legal scholars, they were religious lawyers. The Law was based not only on God's Commandments, but Mosaic Law and commentary (The Torah). All these laws and commentary were strict regulations. Not one aspect of legalism was left unaddressed!
Because the lawyer read "words" rather than "purposes" of the Law, he missed the intent of even having religious standards. God's Law, The Ten Commandments, are all about loving God (1-4) and loving "others" (5-10). Not only did the lawyer miss the point of Judaism (and Christianity), but the priests and Levites missed the entire point of love! (The Levites were the keepers of the religious rights and the priesthood came from their numbers).
Who is "thy neighbor"? In this case it was a traveling Jew. There were non-religious Jews, those who practiced Rabbinical Judaism and then there were the Samaritans. The lawyer, the priest and the Levite were Rabbinical Jews. "A certain Samaritan" was of another flavor.
First off he was NOT "the good Samaritan" for "only God is good" (Matthew 19:17). Doing "good" is pure love. The Samaritan surely had his problems too. However, the "certain Samaritan" demonstrated the action of "loving others". It's not an emotion, it's not a cognitive function, it's not a process; it's an action. It's a demonstration of "compassion" (verse 33). Compassion is having an intense feeling of concern to the extent that action must be taken to quench the discomfort a person is having. The "compassionate Samaritan" then did things: 1) bound his wounds, 2) treated his wounds, 3) gave him his own ride, 4) took him to the inn, 5) nursed him to health, 6) gave him money, and 7) a line of credit without interest or a need to be repaid. In other words the compassionate Samaritan demonstrated love and that's what Jesus was defining to the tricky lawyer (and to us!).
Being compassionate by demonstrating love is not "good" in a spiritual sense. It's an expectation commanded by Jesus. We don't get an "A+" for following commands. We get the better score by having the love for God and of God in our hearts. It was that intense pain that the Samaritan felt that was "good". The Samaritan was showing love to God by loving others!
Who was this "compassionate Samaritan". His nationality was mentioned for a reason! It was because "Samaritan" (in Hebrew) means "guardians or watchers of the Law". They were not Rabbinical Jews who kept writing and rewriting regulations which put the Jews in legal bondage. They were those who guarded the Law and demonstrated clearly that this particular Samaritan knew the intent of the Law!
The Law was all about Jesus! Jesus said that he came not to abolish, but to fulfill the Law! (Matthew 5:17). Paul reinforced this requirement:
Romans 13:8 "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."The lawyer saw the laws very plainly. He missed the intent of it! The Law's purpose is to "love others". The priest and the Levite were guilty of violating the Law because they failed to love! Not only did the Samaritan show love, but he showed it to a religious sect outside his own! Samaritanism is Abrahamic Jews who used the first five books of scripture alone! Their own "laws" didn't have all the regulations tacked on that the Rabbincal Jews had. In other words, their law was pure and being pure, did not make them slaves to "You must do exactly this and exactly that!" It seems to be the Law Jesus practiced, not being bound by destructive regulations. One can't be loving when the object is not only to keep minute regulations, but search for loop holes as well! The lawyer was looking for that loop hole!
"The certain man" "fell among thieves". This man wasn't the thief! He was a "good" man. He was a true victim! Samaritans differed little in what the law says, but obviously this one knew quite well what the laws mean! This group of people were what would be called "nationalists" and as such, they endeavored to keep their land homogeneous. Outsiders were treasured, but Samaritans were not inclusive! Samaritans endeavored to keep their race and religion pure! As such they were not noted for having welcoming committees for immigration into their own space.
This Samaritan was outside his own area. He was in Judea. He was the immigrant! The helped pilgrim was in his space; not in theirs. There was no threat!
Furthermore, the Samaritan worshiped JHVH, the One True God. He had the same Abrahamic religion as did the Rabbinical Jews and Samaritans wanted to keep it that way! It wasn't immigration that the Samaritan was encouraging, being at odds with their religion. It was compassion that escaped from within!
Now let's look at Samaritans:
- They were Jews. They were followers of Abraham just as were the Rabbinical Jews.
- They were part of the Davidic Empire. They were of the line of David, nit purely but mostly.
- They worshiped the same God, not only God in name, but in truth.
- Samaritans existed peacefully with the other Jews. Their common enemy were the Romans and paganism.
- As such, they were not pagans.
Now let's look at the Jew who was helped!
- He worshiped JHWH, not some other god.
- He never threatened the very existence of Judea nor even Samaria.
- He never destroyed the religious shrines of others.
- He never built his own religious shrines on top of those of the Samaritan's.
- He was not trying to destroy Judea nor even the western empire (Rome).
- He was a mere traveler in his own country, not an immigrant.
- He wasn't trying to establish his own laws and customs in Samaria or anywhere else.
- He wasn't trying to terrorize!
- He wasn't trying to change the ways of the Samaritans.
- He was surely a good and free born citizen of the country that he was in!
- He was a Jew in Judea under God's Law; not a pagan immigrant under Sharia Law!
The Jew helped by the Samaritan was NOT:
- A pagan seeking to eliminate Judaism and Jews.
- A cheerleader for extremists.
- A man who subjugates women.
- A man whose religion was based on evil.
- Of a religion which propagates itself through terror.
- A man whose prophets denigrated those of the Samaritan.
- A man who was there to destroy the very fabric of a welcoming land!
In short the "good Samaritan" was an isolationist who just happened to love others. He was not inclusive in race nor religion!
Furthermore, the person being helped was not a threat to the Samaritan's very existence and the free worship of the One True God. He showed compassion on a like-minded Jew in his own country, not on an immigrant. In other words, using "the good Samaritan" story is not applicable to the immigration problem at hand in modern times!
It is compassionate to want to help those of other countries and other beliefs. However, Americans show compassionate through help, both through the government and charities. We have no obligation to defile our own culture and faith, by destroying the very fabric of America. If they want to remain what they are, they should stay where they are! If they are open to western culture and proselytizing, then that's another story. Progressives expect us all to be inclusive without regard to our own nation and culture being destroyed!
Progressives misuse scripture (As did the lawyer) for their own purposes and loop holes, but totally miss the purpose of Christianity: to love and magnify Jesus Christ! Jesus is not magnified by pagan inclusiveness. Compassion is our way of showing God our love. Are we showing God when we adopt those who hate him? I think not! Is it The Great Commission to welcome pagans without being able to tell them about Jesus without being jailed by the P.C. Police? I think not!
No comments:
Post a Comment