The Good Samaritan

Speaker: Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines

July 10, 2022

in Spritual Growth

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5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Readings: Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke: 10:25-37

We are commanded to live out the life of Christ during this Ordinary Time. Not only did Christ free us from sin but it also includes the effects of sin. He shares with us His very life. The story in the Gospel today talks about a lawyer who questions Christ, “what must I do to have eternal life?” Christ asked him how he would interpret the law, and he answered, “Love the Lord your God with all thy soul, and with all thy heart and all thy strength and all thy mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” But he continued to ask Jesus, “but who is my neighbor?”

Jesus then tells the story of a man who was traveling along a rocky road alone, who was accosted by robbers. He was stripped of all his belongings and left on the road helpless and beaten. A priest came along on his way to Jerusalem, sees the man, but just passed him by and went the other way. Then a Levite also came along, looks at the man but turns the other way. The 3rd person to come was a Samaritan, a non-Jew, an outcast who was possibly a businessman. He took compassion on the man and stopped to help him. He treated his injuries, poured oil and wine on him, takes him on his donkey to a local inn and took care of him. When it was time to leave, he left two denarii with the innkeeper and told him to take care of the man’s needs. Here was a man who was not a Jew. A Samaritan. Christ, after telling this story to the lawyer, asked him, “which of these three was a neighbor to the man beaten by robbers?” The lawyer replied, “the one who had mercy on the man.” Jesus then said to him, “go and do likewise.”

Christ is showing us in this story that we are to minister to others. We have been given everything that pertains to life and godliness. He’s given us new life, so that we may impact other people’s lives. The lawyer knew the law. The Jews knew the law but were not living it. Christ is saying, “I have given you the responsibility to use what I have given you.” Our attitude then, is to reach out to others so that they too may experience this new life. The power of God flows through us. The Priest and the Levite saw themselves as “sacred,” and did not want to have anything to do with strangers. They felt their ministries were more important. But Christ wants us to save lives – this is our ministry. Christ came not only for the Jews but for all mankind. We go to church to be empowered so that we can be a ministry to others. We are not to go to church just to be blessed. Here is an analysis of what the parts of the story represent:

The Good Samaritan – Christ

The oil and wine – Eucharist

The Inn- representative of the church, a place of healing

Two Denarii – Old and New Testament

Man that was beaten – Adam

The horse- it was a symbol of “putting the man on Christ.”

Our challenge therefore, is to go and do the same. We lack in no good thing. We must renew our minds so that we can prove His will for us in our lives.