Locations & Times

Did anyone ever help the hurt man in the story today? (Yes, one man did.)

Does Jesus want us to help others, too? (yes)

Why does Jesus want us to help others? (Because we are all precious to God!)

Read: Luke 10:25-37

Most of us have probably heard or read the story of the Good Samaritan before. It’s the gripping story of a man, beat up, stripped of his clothes, and left half dead on the side of the road just waiting for someone to help him. The Samaritan in this story took huge risks to meet the needs of the man on his path. Yet there is no reference to him stopping to weigh the cost to himself. He did all he could to demonstrate love and kindness to a total stranger without a thought to what it could mean for him.

Why does the idea of extending love to a total stranger nag us? Most of us want to identify with the Samaritan, but the truth is, we see ourselves in the other two men as well, the men who crossed over on the other side of the road, as far away as possible from the man in desperate need. It’s so much easier to love only the people who are capable of loving us back. The hard truth in this story is that God is calling us to love everyone we meet, no matter what, because everyone is precious to God.

Jesus told this story in response to the question, “who is my neighbor?” and he left no loopholes. Everyone is our neighbor. All people are precious. The love of the Samaritan is just a small reflection of the love of Jesus for us. It cost Jesus everything to demonstrate his love for us, and we in no way deserved that sacrifice. Knowing we've been loved like that gives us all we need to love others the same way. It’s not enough to just talk about loving others. We are called to act in a way that reflects the heart of God. And it is clear from this story that the heart of God is full of mercy and compassion for all (Luke 10:37). The more we understand that we are precious to God, the more we can understand that all people are precious to God. Then we can change our often automatic response of judgement and condemnation to offer mercy and compassion instead—just like Jesus.

How does this story broaden the definition of neighbor? Why is that important for us as followers of Jesus?

Who needs you right now? How does seeing that person as precious to God help you to be compassionate towards them?