I want to start by giving a little context. In the same chapter, Jesus appointed 70 men to go out and teach the gospel, and when they returned, He started teaching. A man stood up and asked what the greatest commandment was. Jesus answered that the greatest commandment was love God and love thy neighbor. The man then asked who his neighbor was was Jesus told him the story of the good samaritan. The verses read:
What I love about this story is that the good samaritan went above and beyond helping the man he found lying in the road; he took him to an inn, took care of him, told the innkeeper to help him, and that he would pay for whatever the innkeeper spent.
Matthew: 30-37- And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ...And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ...And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. ...But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, ..And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ...And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. ...Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? ...And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
When I was reading this story, I got a little upset because two men passed him and didn't stop to help him at all. I said to myself that I would have helped him had it been me that passed him. Then I realized that nowadays it's not likely that we pass someone beaten and lying in the road, but we do find people who are beaten mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, and it's our job to help them. I hope that when see someone in need, we help them and be like the good samaritan.
This week's study principle:
Footnotes and Lexicons- When reading in the scriptures, look to the footnotes, they will lead you to to other scriptures or definitions of words that will allow you to understand the scriptures. You can also look up the greek lexicon to better understand the translations and meanings of words.
No comments:
Post a Comment