I'll read this text with you and I'll be opening it for you. This is God's Word. what is written in the law, how do you read it? And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, you have answered correctly, do this and you will live. But he desiring to justify himself said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among the robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road and we saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, As he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. And 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. Which of these three do you think prove to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? He said, The one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, You go and do likewise. Amen. Word of the Lord. Brothers and sisters, the parable of the Good Samaritan, I believe, is perhaps one of the most, if not the most, misunderstood parables that Jesus taught. Now, most of you, like me, we've all heard it taught this way. Jesus wants you to go and be a good Samaritan. When you see somebody in trouble, when you see somebody in need, you need to go and be a good Samaritan and show mercy and help them out, right? Pretty much. Ethical, practical. Go and be that. You go and be just like Him, right? That's how most of us have been taught this parable. I do not believe that's completely untrue. There is a very real sense in which Jesus wants us to be like the Good Samaritan. He wants us to live a godly, kind, gracious, helpful life. However, I do not believe this is the main point of this sermon. In fact, I believe it's almost completely opposite. I think the message is not primarily go and be a Good Samaritan. I believe what Jesus is saying is you need the Good Samaritan. or someone like him. You are not in the place of the Samaritan in this story. I am not in the place of the Samaritan. No, no. You and I are in the place of the man beaten, broken, half dead on the ground. We need someone like that. We need, and I'm going to call him the gracious neighbor, the good neighbor, the gracious neighbor. We need someone like that to help us. And I think you know who I'm talking about. Okay. So this is where I'm going with this wonderful parable. Remember, this is the context. You can't take the parable out of context. You can't lift it out of context. What's the context? Young lawyer. He's a teacher of the law. He's a teacher of the Bible. He's a Bible scholar. He wants to test Jesus. He wants to trick Jesus. He says, Oh, Jesus, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus knows what he's up to. He says, well, you know the law, you tell me. What's the law? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, right? And love your neighbors as yourself. That's the whole law summed up. That's it. He says, now, my young friend, my scholar, go and do that. Yikes. Does anybody keep the law? Romans chapter three, there's none righteous, no, not even one. That young man knows that. That young man knows that he doesn't keep the whole law, and he certainly doesn't love his neighbor as himself, as we're gonna see. And seeking to justify himself, he asks another question. What is it? And who is my neighbor? You see, his assumption is there's certain people I don't have to love, certain people I don't have to show mercy to, because they're beyond that. They're trash, like a Samaritan. We'll come back to that point. So, Jesus understands this man's heart. He wants to justify himself by his own works. He wants to justify himself by his own righteousness. And we know there's no one, no one that has perfect righteousness such to please God, do we? None of us. Not even this young lawyer. So Jesus wants to tell him a story to bring that point home. and teach that man the gospel that he needs someone to save him. He needs to humble himself, repent of his self-righteousness and pride, and receive grace from someone greater. So, he wants to tell him a parable. I'm gonna call him the Gracious Neighbor. Often called the Good Samaritan, but I like this better. The Gracious Neighbor. So we're gonna see the gracious neighbor's identity first in this parable. Verse 30, again, Jesus tells a story. There's a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell amongst the robbers who stripped him and beat him and left him half dead on the road. The man is most certainly a Jew. There's almost no doubt about this man in the parable. Is this a real story or is this a made-up story? We don't know, but I suspect it's a true story. I think it's probably a true story, but it doesn't really matter. The message is true. It says he was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Now that was a 17-mile stretch of road. 17 miles and it's 3,000 feet from top to bottom, so that's a steep, hard road. He was going down from Jerusalem back to Jericho. Now a lot of people don't know this, but Jericho was where many of the priests and the Levites lived. So some people think that this man that was beat up was a priest, because he had been in Jerusalem and was going back home. But we don't know that either. But there's a lot of things that are very interesting here. But in any case, this Jewish man left Jerusalem down this long winding road down the mountain, but in that place there were many robbers. And he was beat up, stolen all of his goods, left him for dead. He's laying on the ground, bleeding out on the ground. If no one helps him, what's going to happen to him? He's going to die. He's going to die, that man. Who will help this man? Who will come to his aid? See, Jesus' audience are waiting for this answer. Good enough to help this man. Even the best in Jerusalem wouldn't help him. Listen. Verse 31, Now, by chance, there was a priest coming down the road. When he saw him, he passed on the other side. Verse 32, Likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, he passed by on the other side. Now, this is a lawyer. Jesus is telling the parable to this Jewish scholar. These are his peers, the priest, the Levite. These are his buddies. And he's saying, your buddies, all of you Jewish scholars and leaders, this is what you are. What's the pattern? They come down the road, they see the man, they go as far away on the other side as they can. They avoid him like the plague. They don't want to get dirty. They don't want to get their hands dirty with this poor man beaten up, left for dead. And see, this is shocking. Isn't it? It's somewhat shocking. These are the people that ought to care. These are the people that say they love God, but they ought to care, but they don't. Why won't they help? What's wrong with them? Might I suggest the same thing that's wrong with you and me? Selfish and sinful. This is what we all are by nature, isn't it? We're all selfish and sinful and self-righteous to boot. So Jesus is telling a story that's somewhat shocking. These are the best that Jerusalem have to offer, but no one can bring themselves to get down on their knees and help this man who's been left for dead. What would we do? But, Jesus says, now, Jesus' audience are waiting. They're waiting for some righteous Jew to come along and help. Maybe he's not a priest. Maybe he's not a Levite. Maybe he's just an ordinary Jew. but a good Jew will come along and help. Verse 33 is a shocker. For Jesus' audience, a big shocker. Verse 33, who was it? But a Samaritan. A Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. Now, if you don't know who the Samaritans are, I won't get into the long backstory. Suffice it to say this, they were neighboring people. They built their own temple competing with Jerusalem temple, and they had a big grudge against the Jews, and the Jews had a big grudge against them, so much so that they couldn't be in their presence, they couldn't eat with a Samaritan, they wouldn't want to speak to a Samaritan, and they would have no problem striking a Samaritan if they gave them even the slightest reason. They were enemies, hated, despised, and they didn't want to have anything to do with these Samaritan people. So, when Jesus says a Samaritan of all people showed compassion, that's a shocker. Alright, so track with me here. This is very important. Now, one commentator said this, when we call this story the Good Samaritan, He says it kind of blunts the power of this message because let's put it in our context. It would be like calling the story the good terrorist or the good drug dealer or the good child molester. These are people that we consider evil and somewhat irredeemable, our enemies, right? That's the way the Jew would have heard this story, like the good terrorist. Okay, the last thing this audience expected was to hear Jesus say that this Samaritan showed compassion to a Jew. How could it be? This would be devastating for those people. This would be actually shocking and horrifying to these people that someone like that would save me. What is Jesus getting at here now? Is He saying, now you friends, go and be like this. Go and be like the good Samaritan. I don't think so. You see, He's answering the question of that young man, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Here's what Jesus is saying, my friend, you are just like that man broken and lying dead on the ground. If someone doesn't help you up, you're never getting up. If someone doesn't come to your aid, you're never going to be rescued. You're going to die in your sins. Track with me. Listen to what he's saying. The gracious Samaritan, the good Samaritan, he is a picture of Christ Himself. That good Samaritan is a picture of Christ Himself. Let me explain. The Samaritan is the enemy of the Jews. He is not obligated nor expected to help those Jewish people. Secondly, the Samaritans, unlike the Jews, kept, the Samaritan man, unlike the Jews, kept the law. He actually keeps the law and does what's right. And he puts to shame even the priests. Thirdly, Jesus, like the Samaritan, shows compassion to his enemies. Do you see it now? Are you seeing the picture? I'll put it a little bit differently here. Jesus, who is God, is distrusted and despised by sinners. You see, we who are sinners are His enemy, and we, by nature, do not trust Him. We despise Him, in fact, don't we? Left to ourselves, we would have nothing to do with Jesus. Jesus, being sinless, is the only man who keeps God's holy law. Everyone else is a lawbreaker except Jesus. He's the only one who keeps the law. And thirdly, Jesus is gracious and shows compassion to sinners. So what Christ is doing with this parable is, in fact, He's not saying, go and be like this Samaritan. He's saying, you need a good Samaritan, or you need the one who is like Him. You need Christ. Does that make sense? Have you ever heard that before? This is very important, because Christ is telling us, He's telling a message that we all need to hear. You see, any of us can start to fall into this idea that we're a good person. I'm better than that guy, at least. You know, we compare ourselves, right? If we're not really good, I'm at least better than that one over there, that liar over there, that thief over there, or that whatever. We can always find someone that's a little worse, and therefore build ourselves up. Jesus is saying, no, my friends, we're all in the same boat. If you have sin, You need a Savior. If you have sinned, you need Christ. And He's the only Savior for sinners. And He's like that Samaritan. He's the only one that can do it. He's the only one that will do it. And therefore, we all need to come to Jesus Christ. We all need to flee from our sins. Flee also from our self-righteousness and pride and say, Lord, apart from You, I have no hope. Lord Jesus, save me. Have you prayed that prayer? Are you trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you turned from your sin and come to Christ with nothing in your hands? I bring only to your cross I clean. If that's true of you, then you're born again. You have the Holy Spirit. God's forgiven you of your sins. Praise the Lord. But if you've never come to Christ, if you've never prayed to Him and acknowledged your need for Him, then He invites you today, my friends, He invites you to come and simply receive Christ's grace. And He is good on His word. He will forgive you. Praise the Lord. So we need Christ to be our Samaritan. That's the point. Now, before we go, I want you to look at the actions of this good Samaritan, because in his actions we see something of the love of God for sinners. Listen to this. Now, some of you know this from experience. You have been treated to this same love. Listen. Jesus is saying to this lawyer, this is what God's love looks like. This man's actions is what God does for sinners like you. First of all, He heals him. Verse 34, He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on him oil and wine. Why was that man carrying oil and wine? It's a little odd. You know, in that day, it wasn't odd. It's kind of like carrying a first aid kit in your car. They used them medicinally. Oil would have helped the healing process. Wine would have taken away the edge off the pain. He treats him medically. He actually just heals the man, tries to heal him at least. By the way, oil and wine are two things that the Bible uses to symbolize God's grace. For example, in the Bible, Isaiah 1, verse 6, oil is a picture of the Spirit of Christ. Wine is a picture of the blood of Christ in many places. I believe that these are symbols of the grace of God. God's Christ's blood shed for you, washes you of your sin. Christ's Spirit working in you, sanctifying you. Remember the guilt and the power? Cleansing you of guilt and power of sin? This is what Christ does. Oil and wine are pictures of His healing spiritually. of His people. What else does He do? He gives Him rest. Dear friends, what a gift! God gives rest to His people. He set Him on His own animal and brought Him to an inn to take care of Him. He put Him on His donkey so that He didn't have to walk. He bore His burden for Him. Didn't our Lord Jesus bear our burdens as well? Isn't He gracious? And then He gives the man rest. He takes him to a place where he can lie comfortably And rest. Do you experience the rest of Christ? If not, then Christ offers you rest of soul. You know, if you ask most people what they want more than anything else, you know what they'll tell you? Peace. I want peace. I want peace. Have you ever said that I need peace? I've said that. This is what people want, and this is what Christ offers. Peace, rest, healing, forgiveness, grace. It says that He took care of him. I picture that man, that Samaritan man, watching over him day and night, looking after him, bringing him a cup of water, bringing him a damp rag to wipe his brow. Just whatever he needs, he's there. This is a picture of our Lord's love for us. I believe. Verse 35, what else does he do for him? It says, The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him. Whatever more you spend, I will repay when I come back. You know, two denarii on that day, you know how much that was worth? That's like two months' salary. That's a well-paid person, two months' salary. That's a lot of money. He put down all that money and says, I have to go now. But whatever he needs, buy it. I'll pay it back if it runs out. That's security. That's security, not only for now, but for the future. That's assurance. You see, that's what Jesus gives us too. He says, I have put down the deposit for you. You are going to be taken care of. No matter what happens in your life, Jesus is going to take care of you. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? Healing, rest, security of soul. This is what our Savior has done for His people. And Christ is saying to that man, that lawyer, that self-righteous young man, proud of himself, too proud of himself, He says, you need one to do this for you. You can't keep the law, not even close. You can't love God the way you want. You can't love your neighbor as you want. You need a good neighbor like Jesus to come, even if you don't trust Him. He's trustworthy. You ought to trust Him. So Christ alone can supply what dead sinners need, my dear friends. Christ alone can supply what dead sinners need. One last thing. The gracious neighbor gives a challenge to us. Verse 36, Jesus tells the story, and he says this, which of these three, okay? He's looking back on his parable, and he says, look, the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan? Which of these three, you young man, young lawyer, prove to be a neighbor to the man who fell amongst the robbers? Verse 37, he said, the one who showed him mercy. Who is the good neighbor? Not me. Not you. Him. He is the good neighbor. He is the gracious neighbor. He is the good friend. He is the one who, though we are enemies with Him, despise Him, though we don't trust Him as we ought, but yet He is the one. He is the one who shows mercy and compassion to sinners, though He is under no obligation to do that. And yet He does. And so, Jesus said to this young man, finally, this is how he answers, and this is interesting because he says something that he said earlier on. And Jesus said to him, and these are the final words, and this is I think why people get it wrong. He said, now Jesus said to him, you go and do likewise. So in other words, you go and show mercy like this as well. I think what Jesus is doing is he's using the law to show this man his need for grace. Because I think he's talking to a man who could never, ever show mercy to a Samaritan. He could never, ever do what that man did. And I think Jesus is showing him, my friend, you know and I know that you can't go and do this apart from me. You know and I know you can't go and live a godly life apart from me. You need me. You need the Savior. So my dear friends, may we not trust in our own righteousness, may we not trust in our own works, and may we certainly not compare ourselves to others. But let us go to the Lord Jesus Christ saying, wretched sinner that I am, Lord Jesus, apart from you, I have nothing. Save me, forgive me, and help me. And He will give you rest, He will give you peace, He will give you healing, and He will give you security now and forever. This is the kind of Savior He is. He is the true good neighbor. Praise the Lord. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this wonderful parable. We thank you for the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, and we thank you for the true good neighbor, the one who came from heaven to earth to lay down his life, to sacrifice himself at much cost to save people like us. We thank you, O Lord, that though you are much despised and much distrusted, You show kindness to your enemies. And we thank you for doing this to us. And again, I pray if there be anyone here today that needs the Savior, that today would be their day of salvation. Thank you for hearing our prayer. In Jesus' name, amen.