Rethinking the Robber

There is a surface-level application to the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) that is pretty obvious. If you come across someone robbed and beat half to death, you should help them. I can think of very few people (Christian or not) who would argue against such an ethic. It’s basic golden rule stuff. And while it’s easy to affirm, it’s anything but easy to practice. Especially when you get more details. And Jesus is giving details.

Desperate men are not the only thieves and murderers among us. There is a scene in the 2003 movie Luther where a young boy commits suicide. According to the Roman church, suicide was a mortal sin, and he was condemned to hell. Then Martin Luther makes a profound statement:

Some say that according to God’s justice this boy is damned because he took his own life. I say he was overcome by the devil. Is this child any more to blame for the despair that overtook him, than an innocent man who was murdered by a robber in the woods?

Jesus says Satan has been “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44) and a “thief” who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). What if the man who went down from Jerusalem on a dangerous road isn’t just the equivalent of getting jumped in a dark alley? What if it’s that and a whole lot more? I believe it is. I believe it’s about those people who are traveling the dangerous road of life in the wrong direction. People warned them. They knew better but did it anyway. And there is a murderous robber out there who has beaten them and left them for dead. And by “them” I mean all of us.

Head-on Collisions, Blood, and Sin

Why don’t the Levite and the priest help this stranger on the road, and why is Jesus so specific about who they were? Priests and Levites are not just Jews but ceremonially clean Jews. They were the men of the cloth of their day. One may think that if anyone would help, it would be these guys. But it’s dangerous and expensive. Why are these men even on this perilous road? What are they doing so far from safety and Jerusalem? To help this man will mean they will run several risks: 1. If they don’t want others to know where they have been, helping could expose that. 2. Helping takes time, and obviously this isn’t a safe place to spend a few hours. 3. This guy is a bloody mess. He looks dead. If they investigate, and it turns out he is in fact dead, they will become unclean from the corpse. The price tag is too high. So they stay as far away as possible.

Years ago, I was the first person on the scene of a head-on collision. It was horrific. I rushed from my car to help. One driver was already dead, and the other was unconscious, with the dashboard of his truck caved in against his chest, pinning him in the vehicle. There was a woman in the passenger seat. She was in a swimsuit and had cuts all over her body. She was screaming in total shock. I couldn’t get her door open, so I cleared out the glass from the shattered window and pulled her through the opening. I carried her a little way from the wreck and set her in the grass and then called the 911. Only after the first responders arrived and I was free to go, did I realize that the white shirt I was wearing was covered in the woman’s blood, as were my arms and neck.

At this point in the story, Jesus wasn’t telling the questioning lawyer or the angry disciples who their neighbors were or how they should love them. Not yet. Jesus was telling them who they were.

There is nothing special about the way I responded. I believe anyone would respond that way. But after it was over, there was no denying I had just been involved in something horrific. The evidence of disaster was all over me. Now imagine that isn’t blood, it’s sin. Neither the priest or the Levite were willing to risk getting spiritually dirty.

At this point in the story, Jesus wasn’t telling the questioning lawyer or the angry disciples who their neighbors were or how they should love them. Not yet. Jesus was telling them who they were. He is telling us who we are. We are all simultaneously the nameless man left for dead on a dangerous path away from God and the priest and Levite unwilling to dirty ourselves with others who have been overcome by sin and the devil’s murderous work. We aren’t pulling anyone out of spiritual head-on collisions; we are driving the car.

The Good and Despised Samaritan

“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back’” (Luke 10: 33-35).

Sin has left all of us for dead on the dangerous road away from God. But God himself will travel that road to rescue, mend, and save us. He doesn’t show up as a glorious and powerful king. He appears as one rejected and despised. He will be accused of all kinds of heresy. He will be opposed for the fugitives he harbors. He will show up like a Samaritan. He isn’t afraid to travel the Way of Blood. He journeys that road seeking and saving the lost, miserable, and dead. He counts all of humanity as his neighbors. He comes to us overwhelmed with compassion, and without us asking, he binds our wounds and carries us to the inn of the church.

He pays for everything with his blood and promises to return for all he has rescued. Jesus is the only good and despised Samaritan.

Jesus is the hero of his own parable, but he has cast the most unlikely person to play his part. He was someone who scandalized both the religious leaders and his own disciples. It serves as a prophetic word that he will be spurned and rejected by his own people, but people of every background and unsavory reputation will be brought into his kingdom.

So, You Want to Be Like Jesus?

Jesus concluded his story by saying “You go, and do likewise.” This is the part we are prone to focus on. We see it as an admonition to go be good and helpful people. But it’s more than that. It must be heard in light of the whole story. As we “go,” there are things we must come to grips with if we want to be little Christs to a world left for dead.

Go and know you were dying apart from God, beaten by sin, and without aid or hope.
Go and know a despised and rejected God brought you back to life when all others passed you by.
Go and know that in his compassion, he has paid for all things necessary for you to live and has promised to return for you at an appointed time.
Go and know that to love your neighbor is messy and involves wasting your perceived righteousness and reputation. It means walking the Way of Blood.
Go and know that there is only one truly good Samaritan, and he goes with you. 

This is an excerpt from chapter 6 of Scandalous Stories by Daniel Emery Price and Erick Sorensen (1517 Publishing 2018), pgs. 50-53.