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Posted in: Children's Stories For Adults, Parables
This Week’s Feature Article by Jack Kelley
On one occasion an expert in the Law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law,” Jesus replied, “How do you read it?” He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind [Deut. 6:5] and love your neighbor as yourself [Lev 19:18].” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied, “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself and so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-29).
In reply to this question, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) the obvious point of which is that our neighbor is anyone in need of our assistance. We all learned this point of the story as children. But parables are heavenly stories put into an earthly context where every character is symbolic of someone or something else, and the Parable of the Good Samaritan is no exception. Therefore we should also expect to find a glimpse of Heaven contained there in. The word parable literally means “to place along side” so the obvious “earthly” story has to be accompanied by a hidden “heavenly” one. Put another way, if the obvious story is the children’s version then the hidden one is the adult version of the story. Let’s find it.
First, a little background. The Samaritans were the offspring of marriages between Jewish farmers the Assyrians left behind when they conquered the Northern Kingdom in 721 BC and the pagans they re-located there. Mixing up the conquered populations was standard procedure for the Assyrians because it reduced the threat of organized rebellion. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews because of these mixed marriages and because they had incorporated pagan rituals into their worship of God (both were forbidden by Jewish law.) A generation or so before the time of Jesus, a son of the Jewish High Priest had run off and married the daughter of the King of Samaria, built a replica of the Temple on Mt. Gerizim and instituted a rival worship system which caused a huge scandal. In her encounter with Jesus (John 4:4-42) the Samaritan “woman at the well” makes reference to this (vs. 19).
The region called Samaria was named after the capital city of the former Northern Kingdom and is located in what’s known today as the West Bank. Because their laws prohibit marrying outside their own, the Samaritan population has dwindled to a point where only about 700 exist today. They’re not Palestinians, but they’re not regarded as Jews either and keep pretty much to themselves. Some have equated the Jews’ treatment of Samaritans during the time of Jesus with the southern whites’ treatment of blacks in the 19th century in the US, so to have a Samaritan as the hero of this story must have gotten the attention of the Lord’s audience right away. By the way, the ruins of the Samaritan Temple were discovered about 10 years ago and are being excavated for public display.
The old Jericho Road was a steep narrow passage along one wall of a deep canyon. In the 17 miles from Jerusalem to Jericho, it dropped 3200 vertical feet through a rough wilderness area fraught with danger from attacks by wild animals in the best of times. In the Lord’s day there was also the threat of being attacked by robbers lurking in the rocks. The Temple renovation was nearly complete and many workers had been laid off. Having lost their source of income, some turned to stealing to provide for their families. The people were all too familiar with reports of violence there, and had nicknamed this road Adumim, the Pass of Blood. The area where the canyon opens up at the bottom, near Jericho, is traditionally known as the valley of the Shadow of Death, from Psalm 23.
You know how the story goes. A man traveling along the old Jericho Road is beset by robbers who strip him of his clothes, beat him and leave him half dead. First a priest and then a Levite pass by, but simply cross to the other side and ignore him. Then a Samaritan comes along. He comes to where the man is, binds up his wounds applying oil and wine, and places him upon his own donkey. He takes the man to a nearby inn and cares for him. The next day he pays the man’s present and future bill asking the innkeeper to look after him and promising to pay any balance due when he returns. The two silver coins he gave the innkeeper would have paid a man’s hotel bill for up to 2 months in those days.
So, understanding that there’s supposed to be a glimpse of Heaven here and that everyone in the parable is symbolic of someone else let’s look for the hidden meaning.
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.”(Luke 10:30)
The man was an ordinary person who represents you and me on the road of life. Who it is that would attack us, strip us of our clothing and leave us for dead? We know that our spiritual covering is often referred to in terms of clothing. “All our righteous works are as filthy rags,”says Isaiah 64:6 whereas the Lord clothes us with “garments of salvation” and “robes of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10). So who would strip us of our covering of righteousness and leave us spiritually dead? Only Satan, the stealer of our soul.
A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. (Luke 10:31-32)
The priest and the Levite represent organized religion that in and of itself is powerless to restore spiritual life and leaves us just as dead as when it found us. The Lord had Isaiah say,“These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13) Jesus didn’t come to start another religion. He came so that God could be reconciled to His creation, to restore peace between the two. But sadly, in some parts of the Church, the rules of men still carry more weight than the Word of God.
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. (Luke 10:33)
And that leaves the Good Samaritan. Though despised and rejected by His countrymen, He comes to where we are after we’ve been attacked and beaten by our enemy, stripped of all our righteousness and left hopelessly dead in our sins, beyond the ability of all our religious works to restore us to God’s favor.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. (Luke 10:34)
He binds up our wounds (Isaiah 61:1), pours on oil and wine, and carries us to a place of spiritual comfort where He personally cares for us. Oil was used to aid in healing because of its soothing and relaxing properties. Applying it to the skin brings comfort. It represents the Holy Spirit, our Comforter. Wine was an antiseptic, a cleansing agent. It symbolizes His blood, shed for the remission of sin. At the moment of salvation we receive the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance and are washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb. He has taken up our infirmities and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4) and will bring us to a place of comfort. In Matt. 11:28 He said, “Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ (Luke 10:35)
Before He left this earth He paid the debt of sin we owe to God (represented by the innkeeper), entrusting us to His care. Silver was the coin of redemption (Exod. 30:12-15) . Please notice that He also accepted responsibility for all of our future sins. We weren’t just redeemed up to the time we became believers, but for all of our lives. (Col. 2:13-14)
So the Good Samaritan could only be the Lord Jesus, our Savior and our Redeemer.
And what did the man do to deserve all of this? Nothing. He neither earned his rescue nor provided any contribution to his restoration. It was a gift, a manifestation of the grace in the Good Samaritan’s heart. And so it is with us. For when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)
And now you know the adult version. 07-11-09
Posted:
Based on “Shine for God” by Pastor Mark Balmer; 7/4-5/09,
Message #2486, Daily Devotional #5 - “Go Light the World”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction):
Authors can truly excel when writing about things they have experienced. Why? Because the events have “life” to them. The reader gets a sense of having been there and experienced what the writer is sharing. How many times have you picked up a book and lost interest before you had finished the first paragraph? Yet at other times, the words pull you in and grab your interest just as if an arm reached through the pages, grabbed your hand and pulled you into the written scene. Reading takes us on amazing adventures and opens up a before unseen world to the curious soul. When we have completed the reading of a good book we put it down, sorry that the adventure is over. Reading is time consuming, so most of the time we don’t re-read a book. Having said that, let me introduce you to the one Book that takes more than a day, a week, a month, or even a year to read. It is alive and therefore takes a lifetime of reading to understand, for it is the Book that introduces us to, and helps us get to know, our God. It is the only Book you cannot finish. It is called the Bible, penned by the saints, and inspired by God. It takes us from the creation of this world to the time that Jesus comes back for His people and beyond. It is a book no Christ follower would ever want to put aside. Only this one Book can shine God’s light on this world and give eternal hope.
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. (Psalm 119:11-16) Every time I hear a teaching at Calvary Chapel Melbourne, something comes alive in my spirit. This week it was when Pastor Mark reminded us that our Bibles are not to be used in church and then set aside until we enter the sanctuary again, a week later. How can we know our God, how can His glow shine in our lives and lead others to Him, and how can we truly live for Christ, if we never spend time with Him where He most often speaks to us, in His Word? Why, it would be like parents with a newborn taking that child and setting in down and saying, “OK, now grow up and live a good life. See ya…….and don’t mess up.” God didn’t do that. He has given us, first, His only begotten Son to show us what He is like, and then He sent His Holy Spirit to teach, comfort, guide, and correct us. And how do we know how to live? By His living Word – the Bible! When I read the account of how Moses’ faced glowed because He had been in the presence of God (Exodus 34:29), I understand that even though Moses’ face could not keep that original glow (it faded), God was showing us that our lives can have a permanent glow because the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in us (1 John 4:13). He enlightens us to know God and His Word. Time spent with God is literally life-changing. But if we ignore His Word, we will be like the parents who set their newborn child aside and just commanded him to grow and do well. How crazy that sounds. God didn’t do that either. He saved us through His Son, and then gave us His Spirit and His Word to help us grow and succeed as Christ followers.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): I recently heard author and speaker, Beth Moore, recount a time when she so needed to hear from God that she literally slept with an open Bible on her forehead. I laughed when I heard her say that because I have laid my head on my Bible wanting the words to be absorbed into my head. Over and over again, the Spirit of the Lord is pulling me closer. I used to carry my Bible around all day and even read it at every red traffic light, and it still goes everywhere with me to this day. Every time I have to make a decision, I open the Bible and see what applies to that circumstance. Well, I have done that for over 40 years, though now I don’t read it at every traffic light for I have hidden much of the Word in my heart. Still, I need God’s fresh Word each day. Because now God is speaking to me about other things just as important to my life as the basics once were. I have seen evidence of the glow of being in God’s presence, and it has only made me more humble, for I can do nothing without Him, but with Him all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Today, take time to journal with God’s open Word beside you. Read it in humility and allow the Lord to guide you. Your life will begin to glow a little brighter, and the greatest glory will be the Lord’s! Christ followers are to light the world with the hope that lives in them (Ephesians 1:18-19). Go light the world!
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Philippians 2:14-16
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Calvary Chapel of Melbourne; 2955 Minton Road; W. Melbourne, FL 32904; 321-952-9673
All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.
"Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,"
NKJV
God has an infinite amount of grace and mercy available to each of us.
We allow 24,000 people to die from hunger or hunger related causes every day; that's one thousand an hour or one every 3.6 seconds. Not counting individual murders, but counting war and genocide in the last 100 years, we've killed 200 million... and it doesn't stop there; as time continues so does sin and death. We all own a part in this. This is the world God died for. But God...
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." NKJV
The Bible talks about God's grace abounding. There are a lot of people in this world and each one of us needs every last bit of God's grace. We should be very thankful that His grace does not have volume or measure; it's unlimited. He pours out grace, He pours out mercy, and He does not empty. His grace is available to everyone who is willing to accept it. God will never say, "Nope, that's it. You're all done. You had your share of grace and you squandered it." No friend, in contrast, He stands with arms outstretched, waiting. Have you accepted God's grace? Will you? If you would like to do this right now, please pray something like this...
Dear Father,
Thank You for loving me. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. I confess to You that I am a sinner. Lord Jesus, please forgive me for my sins. Thank You for forgiving me. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins and defeating death. Please give me the power to live for You all the days of my life. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Living to tell what He died to say,
Pastor David McGee
Senior Pastor
Calvary Chapel of the Triad
reachthetriad.com
twitter.com/ccot
July 11thWe previously referred to the promise of eternal life as "the promise of all promises" (regarding its impact upon man). Thus, we will give it additional attention. We saw that eternal life (everlasting life) has both a quantitative aspect (lasting forever) and a qualitative aspect (growing in fullness). Also, eternal life is a gift of God's grace, which is received in humble faith. There are other distinctives of eternal life that are very edifying to contemplate.
The gift of eternal life is to be possessed now, not just awaiting us in eternity. "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life…Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life…Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life" (John 3:36; 5:24; 6:47). Those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus already have eternal life here on earth.
Furthermore, that reality can be embraced with assurance. "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:11-13). Eternal life is innate to Jesus Christ. "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live…I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 11:25; 14:6). He is the life. All who have trusted in the Lord Jesus have Him dwelling in their lives. Therefore, they are assured ofhaving eternal life.
Ultimately, these verses remind us of the most profound aspect of eternal life. The realities of that life are all related to Jesus. "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." In order to grow in that life, one must only pursue a growing relationship with the one who has the life. "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent…but grow in thegrace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (John 17:3and 2 Peter 3:18).
