LUKE 10:29-37 WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 10:29-37 Who Is My Neighbor

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

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Well, this morning as we look at this passage here, Luke chapter 10 verses 29 through 37, we are continuing on the passage we started last week. And last week we saw the subject, how to inherit eternal life. Because a lawyer came to Jesus and asked the question, how do I inherit eternal life?

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And Jesus challenged him, what do you think the scriptures say? What do you think it means, how to inherit eternal life? And the lawyer responded to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind. And then also to love your neighbor as yourself.

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quoting from the Old Testament. And Jesus said, that's right. You got the right answer. The way to inherit eternal life is to love God and love your neighbor.

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Well, now we're continuing on with that discussion that is taking place between the lawyer and Jesus. And we find in verse 29, it says, but he, that is the lawyer, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? So Jesus says, you got it right. Love God, love your neighbor. That's how you inherit eternal life.

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But now this lawyer asked Jesus, well, who is my neighbor? Now we also have some insight here though from the Lord about the motivation of this guy as he asked this question. It says his motivation is to justify himself. The word justify, it means to show or regard as just or innocent.

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The lawyer was not seeking this information so that he would know better how to obey. Instead, he was seeking this information so that he could explain how he already had fulfilled this command. He was looking to show, look, I'm innocent. Look, I am righteous. I already keep this command.

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Now I would point out to you that the order of these two commands is very important. Love God and love your neighbor. Jesus said that loving God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind was the first and most important command. So that's the first priority. The second priority is then to love your neighbor as yourself.

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Here this lawyer, as he's seeking to justify himself, we can kind of, you know, glean from this that he figured he's already done the first one.

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Love God, heart, soul, mind, strength. Oh yeah, I got that. That's no problem. I just need a point of clarification here. Who's my neighbor? I got the other one figured out. I know how to love God. I've got that down. But what about loving my neighbor? He was wanting to show that he is innocent. To me, that kind of sounds like a lawyer. Not to

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speak evil of lawyers, but you know, hey, give me the exact definition and, you know, maybe I can get off on a loophole or a technicality. You know, maybe I can kind of just show that I am innocent in this. And so he asked the question, who is my neighbor?

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Now it's a valid question because there was some discussion regarding this quotation from Leviticus 19, love your neighbor as yourself. There was discussion amongst the Jewish scholars about, well, who is my neighbor? What does that mean? What is a neighbor?

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Many people at that time defined neighbor as any Jewish person. So for a Jewish person reading the scriptures and love your neighbor as yourself, then it meant that you were to love your fellow Jews. Outside of that, it didn't apply. But within the Jewish nation, within the Jewish race, that was your neighbor and you were to love them.

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But the word neighbor literally means a very close companion. So there was another school of thought that said, no.

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Your neighbor, it's not just all Jews, but it's only those who are actually very close to you. It's just your very close friends. In fact, this word is often used also of your spouse. So love your spouse as yourself. Love your very close friends as yourself. And that's really the extent of it. You don't have to. It's not talking about, you know, beyond that. And so there is kind of these different schools of thought. And so this guy's saying, well, who is my neighbor?

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seeking to find that exact definition so that he could justify himself. And you and I, we could kind of go through the same thing, couldn't we?

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As God will be challenging us today and who our neighbor is, we could say, well, is it only people who attend Calvary Chapel Living Water? You know, is that who my neighbor is? If you don't go to my church, then you're not my neighbor. I don't have to worry about loving you. Or do we, you know, look at our neighborhood and say, okay, two doors down that way and two doors down that way. Those are my neighbors. That's the parameters. Beyond that, I'm not responsible for loving those people as myself.

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He asked the question, who is my neighbor? And that becomes the title of today's message. Who is my neighbor? Who is it that I am to love as I love myself? Well, Jesus gives the definition.

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He gives the response to his question with a parable. And so we'll look at this parable and we'll see four different points that we can determine from this passage that help us to identify who our neighbor is. Who is your neighbor? Well, the first thing that we see, the first way that we can identify our neighbor is found in verse 31.

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Your neighbor is one who is wounded. Look with me at verse 30. It says, Then Jesus answered and said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. So in answer to this guy's question, Jesus tells this parable.

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It's not a true event. It didn't actually happen. Probably similar things have happened, but in this particular case, it's a parable. It's a story that Jesus is telling to bring this man to the right understanding of who his neighbor is. Well, this parable begins with a man who is on a journey, and he's going from Jerusalem to Jericho.

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This was something that would be very familiar to them. There was a road from Jerusalem to Jericho. They were about 18 miles apart from each other. The road was, well, it was pretty dangerous for a couple of reasons. First of all, much of that road was through desert. It wasn't, you know, really pleasant landscape. It was rough terrain. It was also rocky and there was hills that came into play in this road as well.

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But the main reason why this road was famous and well-known is because of the crime that would take place. In fact, it was often referred to as the bloody way from Jerusalem to Jericho. So you can get an idea. This was commonplace. This was something that was well-known. So here's this man in this parable going down the bloody way. It's no surprise he gets jumped.

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thieves come they beat him they wound him they leave him half dead and they take off now what i love about jesus's parables is the simplicity this is not hard for us to picture can you see it can you see it in your mind here's the guy on the ground he's beaten he's bloodied he's been robbed and he's left for dead

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We can all see that. We can all relate to that. We know what that's like. Maybe not that we've personally experienced it, but we've seen those kinds of things. Now Jesus is going to use this to make the point that anyone in that position, anyone with such a need, is your neighbor. It's one who is wounded, one who's hurting, one who is in need.

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Now again, we're looking at this not just to understand this parable that Jesus told this guy, but as he will at the end say, go and do likewise, we need to consider these different points for our own selves. And consider what does this mean for our lives? And the point here is that your neighbor is one who is wounded. Would you help him?

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this man on the ground in the middle of the street, beaten, bloodied, and left for dead. How would you respond? You're going down the road, and there he is, this wounded person. How would you respond? Or maybe let's flip it around. How would you want somebody to respond if you were the person that was beaten and bloodied and left for dead in the middle of the road? Of course, we would want people to help us.

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We would want someone to care. And what Jesus is challenging us with is, do we care? Do we care when people are wounded? When people are hurting? Now I think we also should understand that this can extend beyond the physical. And you can consider those who are wounded emotionally. You know there's lots of hurting people around you. There's lots who've been beat up. Who've been robbed.

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who are hurt, who are left for dead. Jesus is pointing out, this is your neighbor. You should also consider those who have been wounded spiritually. You know, this really is the work of our enemy, the devil. He wounds, he robs, and he leaves people half dead. Remember what Jesus said in John chapter 10 verse 10? He said, the thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy.

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But then he says, I've come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. The enemy's work is to steal, kill, and destroy. This is what he does. And there are a lot of people around us who are, well, they're wounded, they're beaten, they're spiritually dead. And Christ has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation. And so whether you want to consider the physical arena or emotional or spiritual, your neighbor is

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is the one who is wounded. Now as you consider that, you need to also factor in this thought: Hurting people aren't always the nicest people. Have you ever experienced that? You know when someone's in the midst of great pain, that's not usually when they're the most friendly. Very often, they become a little bit grumpy, maybe cranky, maybe downright mean, because they're hurting, because they're wounded.

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We talked about last week how Jesus said to love your enemies. Well, sometimes our enemies are our enemies just because they're hurting. It may not have to do with anything that we've done at all. But just because they're wounded, they're lashing out, they're hurting. So when you consider that we are to love the one who is wounded, consider that it might be those who are lashing out at you. And that's your neighbor. That's the one that

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You are to reach out to. Your neighbor is the one who is wounded. Are there any wounded people in your life? Physically, emotionally, spiritually? Are there some people who are hurting? That's your neighbor. Well, the second way to identify

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who our neighbor is, we find in verses 31 through 33. And that is, your neighbor is one who others pass by. Verse 31 says, Now by chance, a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Verse 32, Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

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Jesus now introduces two more characters into this parable, a priest and a Levite. These are both religious leaders. The priest, of course, had responsibility within the temple. The Levite had responsibility around the temple, but they were both responsible for the things of God, the worship of God.

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They were religious leaders. Now the way that Jesus portrays these religious leaders is consistent with the way that we see the leaders relating to Jesus throughout the gospel. So this is, again, it's a parable, but it is true to life in many ways. And so this priest and this Levite, they should be an example of how to obey the law.

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They ought to be examples of how to fulfill those things that God has commanded. They also are meant to be representatives of God, that they would demonstrate the heart of God and demonstrate the mind of God in the things of life. But what we see in this parable is the opposite of that. Here comes the priest. He sees the guy left for dead, wounded, beaten, and bloodied in the road.

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And it says he sees him and then he passes by on the other side. He goes out of his way to go around this man who is wounded and hurting. The Levite has basically the same experience. He comes by, he sees the guy, and he goes out of his way. He passes by on the other side. It's a simple picture. Again, can you see it? Here's the guy beaten and bloodied in the road.

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And here's the priest and the Levite, the religious leaders, crossing the street. Do you ever do that? You know, we don't really walk around that much anymore. So maybe we don't do it that often. But you know what it's like. You know, there's someone across the room. So you kind of go out of your way. There's someone, you know, over at the other cubicle. So you go out of your way. You know, you know those times where you're going out of your way to make sure you don't have to encounter a particular person, a particular situation. Right?

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Well, that's what happened here. The priest and the Levite, they go out of their way to make sure they don't encounter this man who is wounded. Why? Why would they go around? Why would they do this with this man who is hurting there? Well, of course, Jesus doesn't tell us specifically why. Many have speculated and we could, you know, play around with some ideas. You know, they're busy. They maybe perhaps...

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to not become unclean by coming in contact with, you know, a dead body or this guy who was beaten and bloodied or, you know, whatever we could make up. But I really like what Spurgeon has to say about this thought. He says, I never knew a man who refused to help the poor who failed to give at least one admirable excuse.

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Spurgeon's point is, look, we can all make good excuses. We can all make up good reasons why we don't get involved, we don't help, why we cross over to the other side. And so whatever the reasons were, we're not told, really doesn't matter. Here's the real issue. The real reason why they crossed over is because they did not have compassion. Verse 33, but a certain Samaritan said,

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As he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, notice, he had compassion. Jesus says, a certain Samaritan. I picture the people who are listening to Jesus tell this parable, kind of do a double take here. What? What did he just say? This would have been a surprising twist in the story. You know, they're tracking with Jesus.

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They understand, oh yeah, it's a dangerous road. Okay, he's traveling. All right, he gets jumped. Oh, the poor guy. Here comes the priest. Surely he's going to help him. Oh no, he goes around the other side. Oh wait, wait, here's the Levite. He's going to help him. Oh no, he crosses by the other side too. Oh, here's a third guy. A certain, Jesus says, and they're like, yeah, here's the third guy. Here's the hero. Who's it going to be? A certain Samaritan. The Jews would have been shocked.

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they would have likely also been offended at this parable that Jesus is saying. It's an unlikely hero. The hero of the parable is a Samaritan. Now, the Jews and the Samaritans did not get along. And that's severely understated. We talked about this a while back in Luke chapter 9 when the whole Samaritan village rejected Jesus as he was on his way to Jerusalem.

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The reason for the tension, the animosity between them, goes back a few hundred years from this point, as Jesus is telling this parable. The Samaritans were half Jewish, but they were also mixed, because when Assyria conquered the northern part of Israel...

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Assyria took captive and took the people of Israel out of the land. But as their practice was, they brought people from other regions that they had conquered and placed them in the land of Israel.

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But there were some issues. They had some concerns. We don't know how to worship the God here. So then Assyria brought back some of the Jews to live in the land. So now you have some of the Jews living with these people from other regions that Assyria brought there. And what ended up happening is they intermarried and their offspring became the Samaritans. They're part Jews, part wherever else from the world they were from. They were, as the Jews considered them, half breeds. In addition to that,

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They also modified the Jewish religion. So instead of Jerusalem being the place of worship, they said Mount Gerizim is the place of worship. And so they modified the law of Moses. And everywhere it talked about Jerusalem and that kind of thing. They inserted their Mount Gerizim, which was in the northern area of Israel. And so they modified the Jewish religion.

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They were half-breeds, and there was this constant tension now between the Samaritans and the Jews. At least 500 years of hatred and animosity has been going on at this point between these two groups. It was common in that day for Jews to publicly curse Samaritans. It was a normal thing. It was nothing to be ashamed about or to be surprised over.

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They had rules also within the Jewish community. Samaritans could not serve as witnesses. They were considered not fit to be witnesses in any kind of legal matter. And so they were looked down upon in that way. They even went as far to say, it's illegal to marry a Samaritan.

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And so you would be kicked out of the nation. You would be excommunicated from the nation if you were to marry a Samaritan. There was this severe hatred and animosity between them. You might remember in John chapter 4 verse 9 when Jesus encounters the woman at the well. Well, this was a Samaritan woman and she was just surprised that Jesus would talk to her. She says, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask God

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A drink from me, a Samaritan woman. And then John explains, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. So you can understand here the shock as the hero of the story, the hero of this parable is a Samaritan. Because the Jews hated the Samaritans. They thought they were worse than Gentiles.

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But this hero is a Samaritan. I think it should cause us to consider for a moment. What if the person that you dislike so much is actually the best example of how to obey God? Would you ever consider that? I mean, that's kind of hard to swallow, right? But sometimes it's the truth. That person that you dislike so much in some ways might be a better example of how to follow the Lord. Well, this Samaritan...

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sees this man who is beaten, who's bloodied, and it says that he has compassion. And here's the real difference between the Samaritan and the priest and the Levite. The Samaritan has compassion. The word compassion, literally it means for your bowels to yearn. But what it meant, the way that it's used, is to feel sympathy, to have pity.

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And so the Samaritan sees this man and he has sympathy. He could feel the pain. Oh, I would hate to be in that position. It must be terrible to be in that condition. The priest and the Levite, they didn't put themselves in his shoes. They just, oh, I don't want to deal with that. I don't want to think about that. Let's just move on to the other side. But the Samaritan considers how he would feel in that position.

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The Samaritan considers, what would it be like? He has compassion and it prompts him to action. Your neighbor is the one who others pass by. Jesus is making a huge point by using the Samaritan as the hero. He's saying, look, there is to be no favoritism as you seek to love your neighbor as yourself. No partiality.

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This would have been unheard of for a Samaritan to help a Jew. They would think it would never happen. Because the Samaritan could say, it's just a Jew. His brethren would say, yeah, good job. One more is dead. Way to go. He didn't help them. That's the mentality of the day. But Jesus is saying, look, you can't have that attitude towards people. You can't show partiality if you seek to love your neighbor. James...

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also deals with this idea. In James chapter 2 verse 8, he says, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. So James quotes the same command from Leviticus 19, love your neighbor as yourself. And he says, look, if you do this, you do well, good. That's what you ought to be doing.

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But he continues on in James 2.9. He says, but if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. So James says, you can't do both. To love your neighbor as yourself is to not show partiality. And if you show partiality, you're not loving your neighbor. You're committing sin.

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The Samaritan here in this parable is impartial. He could have shown hostility. He could have went, kicked him while he was down. Serves you right for being Jewish. That would have been normal. That would have been common. But instead he breaks through these cultural barriers, these social barriers to show compassion. Even fellow Jews left this man for dead. But the Samaritan goes out of his way to take care of him.

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This is a point that you and I really need to allow God to challenge us on. Partiality is sin. Whatever standard we're using for our favoritism, our partiality, in this case, it's a matter of race. And we have certainly seen racism within church history, haven't we? We've seen it within our culture. We've seen it. It continues to go on. There's these racial boundaries here.

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And people we might otherwise help if they were our race or a race that we accepted aren't helped because they're not part of our group. They're not part of our club. It could be racial boundaries. It could be social status. It could be economic status. It's those times and you can learn to identify when you're showing partiality by when you're coming to conclusions without ever actually getting to know the person.

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You're coming to conclusions about whether or not they need help, whether or not they deserve help, whether or not you're going to help, without ever really encountering the person. You're just basing it on what you can see, what you've observed, what you know on the outside. And that's a big clue that, hey, I'm showing partiality. We need to be careful. Partiality is sin. Your neighbor is one who others pass by.

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And they might pass by because of racial boundaries or those types of things, because of their own partiality, but you're not to do the same. They might pass by because that person is mean and vicious or because that person is an enemy, but you're to love your enemies. Someone once said, if we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each enough sorrow and suffering to disarm all of our hostility.

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If we could understand the history, what they have gone through, we'd lay down our weapons. We'd have compassion. We'd see them as people who are wounded, who are hurting. Your neighbor is one who others pass by. Are there any people in your life who are avoided, ignored, passed by? That's your neighbor.

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Well, the third way we can identify our neighbor we find in verse 34 and 35. And here we find that your neighbor is one who needs care. Verse 34 and 35 says, So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

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On the next day when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper and said to him, take care of him. And whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. So here is the Samaritan. He has compassion. It prompts him to action. And what we see happening is he is taking care of this wounded man. Now, as you look at what is detailed here, it's really remarkable all that the Samaritan did for this man.

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We see, first of all, he begins to treat his wounds and he treats them with oil and with wine. Now, that's just using, you know, what was on hand at the time. The wine, because of the alcohol content, would be good for killing the germs, cleaning out the wound and getting the dirt and those types of things out. And then the oil would be applied afterwards to help soothe and keep out the bacteria so it would keep it from getting infected. It'd kind of be like, you know, pulling out the peroxide and the neosporin today.

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Clean out the wound and protect it. And he bandaged his wounds. So you have the Samaritan getting real hands on. He's getting blood on himself as he has compassion that prompts him to action. That would be noble in and of itself. He bandaged his wounds. He took care of him. All right, have a nice day. But then he sets him on his own animal. So now the Samaritan is walking. He's leading his animal, which is carrying this wounded man.

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Well, that's great. But then he takes him to the inn and he continues to take care of him. He takes care of him that night and then the next day he departs. He has to go, but he makes arrangements before he goes. He arranges with the innkeeper, hey, take care of this guy. Here's two denarii to take care of this guy. Now, a denarii was a day's wage.

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So I did some quick math, looked it up real quick. The average national income is $46,000 a year. Your mileage may vary, but that's national average for a single income home, $46,000 a year. So you do the math backwards, it's about $170 for a day's wage. So he basically gives the innkeeper $300. This is pretty serious investment here. He says, take care of this guy.

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I'll be back. And whatever it costs above this, I'll take care of when I return. So he makes arrangements with the innkeeper to take care of this man, to repay him. But then also he makes arrangements to come again. So he plans a return trip to follow up with this injured man, with the innkeeper. How did things go? Make sure that everything's taken care of. This wounded man, we see here from this, is one who needed care.

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He needed this investment of time. And the Samaritan here gives this real investment of time. He takes time to meet this man's need. It's much more involved than just, hey, here's a couple dollars and then you walk away. Wounds don't heal overnight. It takes some time. And so there's some time involved.

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The Samaritan is getting personally involved as well. Again, he's getting blood on his hands as he's ministering to him and treating these wounds. And then there's actual cost as he has to pay the expense. He pays his medical bills in essence. This man needed care. And the Samaritan, the example, the hero, took care of him. Do you have anybody in your life who needs care? Now again, Spurgeon brings up a great point.

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I never knew a man who refused to help the poor, who failed to give at least one admirable excuse. We all have our excuses. We all have our reasons why. And one of the reasons as we look at what's involved, oh man, it's going to take this much time. And I'm going to have to get my hands in the mix. It's going to require some actual investment of myself and my finances.

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Immediately. It's like magic. Excuses just start popping up in our brain. That's a good, oh, that's a good, oh, brilliant. That's why I can't. But I really like the example here. You know, one of the things that we often will bring up is busyness. You know, we're all busy. And that is very often one thing that we'll bring up whenever there's needs that are in front of us. Consider how busy we are.

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We all have exactly 24 hours in our day. We all have the same amount of time, exactly 24 hours. And we're so busy, every single one of us uses every second of those 24 hours. We do. Every one of us, every day, we use it all. But here this Samaritan, he rearranges his schedule and he makes some time. This Samaritan that Jesus is using in this parable, he's busy. Because notice what happens.

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He picks up the guy. He takes him to the inn. He takes care of him that night. But the next day he departs. Why? Well, there was a purpose to his journey. He was on his way somewhere. This was not scheduled. And he can't stay until the guy's well because he has to go on. If he didn't have somewhere to be, he could have just stayed until the guy was better and then he would just take care of him himself. But he has places to be. He's got things to do. So he makes some room in his schedule.

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He gets to the end. He makes arrangements. I'm going. I got to get this done over here. There's this important thing I got to deal with. I'll be back and I'll take care of whatever other costs there are, whatever arrangements, whatever else is necessary. And so he's arranging, he's making time in his schedule so that he can take care of this man. It's a good example for us, guys. We can all say that we're busy and we all use the same amount of time every day, but we can make some time when God lays before us

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One who needs care. That's your neighbor. And it is going to require an investment of time. And a lot of times we're lazy. We don't want to give up that time. We're stingy. We don't want to give up those funds. We don't want to get our hands dirty. But that's your neighbor. Jesus is pointing out. It's one who needs care. Well the fourth thing we find in verse 36 and 37. And that is your neighbor is one who needs mercy.

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Your neighbor is one who needs mercy. Verse 36, Jesus is done with the parable. Now he asked the lawyer the question, so which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? So now he asked the lawyer the question, you got the Samaritan, you got the priest, you got the Levite, which one of them was a neighbor? Which one of them acted neighborly? What do you think? Of course, we would all come up with, it was the Samaritan.

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He was the one who was a neighbor. He was the one who took care of this man and ministered to him in his need. And that's the same answer the lawyer came up with in verse 37. And he said, he who showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. Here, once again, the lawyer gets the correct answer. He says, it's the guy who showed mercy. And Jesus says, good job. Two questions in a row. You got them right. Now go and do it.

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Your neighbor is the one who needs mercy. So go and show mercy. The word mercy, it's a kindness or a goodwill towards the miserable and the afflicted. It's real closely related to compassion because again, you see the person who's afflicted, who's wounded, and there's a kindness and a goodwill. But this word mercy also joins with it, the action that follows.

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So it's a kindness or goodwill that prompts you to act. It's one thing to see and say, oh man, bummer. Must hurt to be like that. All right, I'll see you later. It's another thing to see the need and say, what can I do? How can I help? That's mercy. It prompts you to action. Now, please understand in all of this, Jesus is not saying, I'm not saying you should be gullible. There's a lot of people who would take advantage of you.

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And would present some type of need so that you could, you know, supply some kind of resource. There's room for you to have wisdom, to use discretion, to seek the Lord and hear from Him about different situations that present themselves. So please understand it's not that you're to be gullible and just believe whatever need is presented to you. You're able to check it out and see if the need is valid.

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Also, please understand, Jesus is not saying, I'm not saying you should put yourself in dangerous positions. So there you are walking by yourself. There's someone calling out from the dark alley around the corner. Be wise. Maybe that's not the best time to go and check out if there's a need. Don't put yourself in vulnerable positions unless God tells you to. Well, then you got to trust him and do what he says.

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But there's room for wisdom. There's room for discernment in all of this. But often that's not even an issue that we need to worry about. The other thing I would point out is that Jesus is not saying you should all go build hospitals. Right? Again, the point of the parable is this Samaritan was going, this need is set immediately in front of him, plainly in front of him, as he's going about his business in the same way

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Jesus is saying, look, your neighbor is those that come right before you. Those who are right in your path. Those who are brought to you, brought to your attention as you're about your business. Now God may call you to go make a hospital and go search out and find all the wounded and sick and everything in all the world and that's a big task. He may call you to that. But primarily what we're talking about here is those who have need that you encounter as you go about your business.

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As you go about the life that God has called you to. And as you encounter people, you can identify your neighbor when you see the one that needs mercy. Are there people in your life who need mercy? Jesus says, go and do likewise. Follow the example of this good Samaritan. Love the wounded. Are there wounded people in your life? Love them. That's your neighbor. Love the one that others avoid.

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That's your neighbor. Love those who require care. And it takes an investment of yourself and your time, yes. But that's your neighbor. Love them. Love those who need mercy. Great example for us to understand who our neighbor is. I want to finish up this morning though with one last thought. And that is this parable that Jesus tells is a beautiful picture. Not just of how we're to love our neighbor as ourself.

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But it's a beautiful picture of what Jesus has done for us. You see, if you put Jesus in the midst of this parable, he is that good Samaritan. Of course, Jesus was Jewish. But in the terms of this parable, he's the one who saw the need and helped. He saw mankind. He saw humanity. He saw you and he saw me. And he saw our condition of sin. That we were dead in our trespasses and sins.

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Although we're alive physically, spiritually, we're dead. We're half dead. We've been wounded. We've been robbed because of sin, because of our fallen human nature. And we're left in that condition, helpless, laying on the road, just beaten and bloodied with no way to save ourselves, no means to recover on our own.

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And God saw our need. Jesus saw our need. And He had compassion. And it prompted Him to action. And God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That whoever would believe on Him should have everlasting life. Jesus gave of Himself and died upon the cross. He shed His own blood. He invested His own time. He invested of His own self. He shed His own blood to take care of our wounds. To cleanse us.

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To provide for us. And just as the Samaritan applied oil and wine, Jesus does as well. We partook of communion just a few moments earlier. Where the cup, the wine, it represents His blood. He said, this is my blood which is shed for you for the remission of sins. He shed His blood. He applied His blood to our wounds. To cleanse us. To wash us of our sin.

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And then he applied the oil, which throughout scriptures represents the Holy Spirit, to preserve us, to keep us from infection. He's entrusted the Holy Spirit to us. Jesus has invested himself because of his compassion. And then the Samaritan, he made arrangements with the innkeeper. He paid the price and he promised to return. That's what Jesus did. He paid the price. He paid it in full. And he promised, I'm coming back again.

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It's a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ. And I want to encourage you today. If you've not received the help of the real Good Samaritan, if you've not received the salvation, the forgiveness that Jesus offers, you're in a wounded state. You're half dead. We all are apart from Christ because of our sin. But He offers to us help, healing,

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A promise of eternity with Him. That by believing in Him, we can receive this help. By believing that He paid the price in full on the cross for us. And so I want to encourage you this morning. Believe in Jesus Christ. Receive the help that God offers. You're lost without it. We need this Savior. And Jesus illustrates that beautifully with this parable. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You.

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for your great word, your incredible teachings here. Help us as believers, God, to go and do likewise, to put into practice these things that you've taught, to identify our neighbors. Open our eyes, God, that we can see those who are in need, that we can see the wounded, those who are being avoided, those who need care and mercy. Help us to see them, God. And then I pray that you would help us to follow the example of this Samaritan, to follow the example of you yourself.

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As you have behaved towards us. Lord that we would give of ourselves. That we would love. That we would minister to those who are in need. And God I pray for those who need you. Which is really all of us. But I pray specifically for those who have not yet received. That help that you offer. That forgiveness and healing that you provide. Lord I pray that they would reach out to you. That they would respond to your offer. That they would believe in you. And turn from sin.

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to be born again. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.