Are You the Good Samaritan?

My guess is that most people know the basic story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible. Essentially, several people pass by a beaten, robbed, and wounded man before a Samaritan stops to help the person. What some (most?) don’t really get is that the hurt man was a Jew and the person who finally stopped was a Samaritan. This is pretty striking because Jews and Samaritans didn’t really get along. Jews looked down on Samaritans as religiously impure. And to an extent, Jews despised Samaritans.

So, the real striking point of the story is that a Jewish priest and a Levite (Jew; tribe of Levi) passed by the man paying him no heed. It was someone who basically was not only a stranger but also someone not typically seeing eye-to-eye with Jews who did stop and helped.

In this age of animosity, political differences, deportations, etc., etc. where are the Good Samaritans? Are you one? Would you stop if anyone was lying hurt in the middle of the road? Would you reach out to help any stranger, especially if they didn’t look like you, dress like you, etc., etc.?

This is something to contemplate. Jesus gave us one simple commandment. To love. Anyone. Not just who we really love. He wants us all to be Good Samaritans. It’s that simple. Are you?

Enjoy the week and look out for someone in need to help!