There is no solution to continuing need. We will always do what we can with what we have.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 9
Copyright © 2006, 2007
David Chadwell & West-Ark Church of Christ
The objective of this lesson: To stress the godly desire to help those in need even if we do not know them.
At times Jesus' lessons are more than challenging; they are downright difficult. It is precisely at these times we need to be reminded of several things. (1) We are Christians because we want to be a part of God's family and kingdom, not because we want to fit into this physical world (remember Hebrews 11:13-16?). (2) While God's power is greater than the evil in the physical world, evil is the primary force that determines the direction in godless peoples' lives. (3) The more we think as God thinks, the less we will act like people who are not guided by God. (4) The more we allow God's priorities to be our priorities, the less we will act like people in this world. Thus a Christian's conflict often is produced when he/she refuses to think like people who are not led by God. The unpretentious truth is this: even the godliest man or woman is more influenced by the thinking and values of people who do not belong to God than by God's thoughts. This just states a fact! It does not seek to find fault! We live in this physical world. We do not yet live in God's world. It is demanding to focus on God while living in a world that does not focus on God!
When lessons from Jesus are difficult, we need to focus on (a) the purpose of our lives and (b) our relationship with God.
Most Christians are familiar with Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan. The context around the parable was produced when an expert in Jewish law, a Jewish theologian, [Jews made no distinction between religious and civil law] asked Jesus how he could inherit eternal life. Jesus asked the man what the law said. The theologian acknowledged two responsibilities: (1) Love God with your entire being, and (2) love your neighbor as yourself. [To the Jewish theologian, Samaritans definitely would not be classified as neighbors. To him, it was a theological matter. To Jesus, it was a conduct matter.] Jesus agreed, declaring the lawyer's observations were the key to eternal existence.
Spend some time making certain your students understand the context of the parable. Too often lessons are separated from their context, resulting in "lessons" being emphasized that were not Jesus' point.
Make sure they understand the lawyer was more of what we would call a theologian than a person of today who is an expert in some area or areas of civil law. Israel was basically a theocracy. Thus civil law was the result of religious views. The nation existed because of God; there was no separation of "state and religion."
The Jewish lawyer would not let the matter end there. His observation left him more accountable than he wished to be. Instead, he wished to justify himself. He asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"
When a theological principle makes us as religious people feel responsibility, we often seek an alternate theological interpretation or a theological loophole. The lawyer wanted to alleviate his feeling of responsibility or perhaps his feeling of guilt. No incrimination is as painful as self-incrimination. It was his answer that convicted him--he did it to himself! He understood more than he practiced!
In some ways, human nature has not changed! To him, if "neighbor" could not be defined, it was not possible to obey the directive to love one's neighbor as one's self. If he succeeded in getting Jesus to restrict the definition of "neighbor," he limited his responsibility. He looked for a theological "loophole" that permitted him to escape responsibility while still remaining a righteous person. There is an enormous difference between the attitude of "how can I escape my God given responsibility" and the attitude of "how can I yield to God's will". The man did not wish to come closer to God. He wished to justify his behavior!
He did not wish to come closer to God. He wished to reduce his level of responsibility!
In the parable, your attention is called to several facts. (1) A Jewish stranger was in need. His need was produced by people who did not "love their neighbor as themselves." These people's behavior was the opposite of a behavior that valued other human beings. They were robbers who saw people as an opportunity to satisfy their greed. They stripped him of his possessions including his clothing. They were not content merely to rob him--they also injured him. They injured him so severely he was unable to help himself. They left him half dead on the side of the road. (2) The contrast between the one who helped and those who passed by is striking. The two men who passed the injured man were among the religious elite in a religious society. If anyone in the Jewish society should have shown concern for an injured fellow Jew, it should have been a Jewish priest and a Jewish Levite. They both had just left the holy city and its powerful religious influences. Of all people, they should have understood the necessity of loving one's neighbor as oneself. (3) The man who helped was considered to come from the lowest level of society. Jews, at times, even questioned the humanity of Samaritans! As a people they were to be used and exploited as though they were a contemptible form of animal life rather than people. (4) This "low life" was on a journey--he had somewhere to go and a reason to be there. Rather than ignoring the injured man, the Samaritan felt something for the man the priest and Levite did not feel--compassion. The issue was not, "What would he do for me were this situation reversed?" The issue was, "This man obviously needs help." (5) The Samaritan bandaged the wounds of the injured Jew. He poured oil on the wounds to limit the soreness, and wine on them to help disinfect them. (He did what he could with what he had.) He took the injured man to an inn on his own donkey and personally cared for him. When he left the next day, he paid the innkeeper two days' wages to care for the injured man, promising to return and pay more if it was needed.
For the parable to cause "sober reflection," the injured man needed to be Jewish. No Jew--even a priest or Levite--would have given a second thought to passing by an injured Samaritan.
Make certain your students know and understand the story. Make sure they see the contrasts. Stress the commitment of the Samaritan to the injured man's immediate and continuing needs in his recovery. Make sure they understand the animosity of the Jews for Samaritans and the Samaritans for Jews. That animosity included the Samaritans being partially Jewish long before, and religious differences--they both followed the same Law but they disagreed on the correct place to worship.
Jesus asked which of the three men was neighbor to the injured man. When the lawyer responded the man who showed mercy to the injured man, Jesus merely responded, "Go act like him." The verb tense used in the original language indicates a continual action, not a one- time act.
The neighborly man in Jesus' story was obvious. Jesus defined neighborliness by conduct, not by theology.
Jesus said helping those who need help is one of the keys to eternal life. People do not exist for us to use for our own purposes or to ignore. People in need exist for God's people to be of help. Evil people produce needs. Godly people respond to needs. The objective of being godly and the objective of being evil never are the same objective. People who live for God cannot adopt the style of existence of people who refuse to live for God.
People in need allow righteous people to demonstrate the fact that God intends for righteousness to be practical and useful. Godliness addresses needs rather than producing needs.
This way of thinking and outlook is contrary to the middle class and upper class American view of life. Those classes of Americans tend to think poverty is a choice and is unnecessary. They tend to think if a person is in need, he or she brought that condition upon themselves. They tend to think anyone can escape any undesirable situation if he or she wishes. More and more Americans are learning that life just happens regardless of what a person has done. The injured man "fell among robbers"--he did not ask people to come rob and injure him.
In many ways, the concept Jesus endorsed is un-American. To think from God's perspective we must refuse to think in the ways our culture teaches. To separate ourselves from cultural perspectives is difficult! Cultural perspectives are ingrained in us from birth; godly perspectives are learned years later. We journey from "that can't be true" to "that is true"--a long journey!
There is no solution to continuing need. There is no "one time fix." Christians always will be neighborly. They always will do what they can with what they have. Read Deuteronomy 15:4 and then 15:11. Do not base your conduct on creating a solution. Base your conduct on doing what you can with what you have to show compassion when people are in need.
Being "neighborly" in a biblical sense is a continual need that increases as our ability to be compassionate increases.
For Thought and Discussion
At times his lessons are challenging and difficult.
His observation left him more accountable than he wanted to be.
He was looking for a theological loophole that would reduce his responsibility.
The Samaritan was neighbor to the injured man.
Helping those in need is one of the keys.
We tend to think those in need have no one to blame but themselves--they created their need.
There is no solution to continuing need. We will always do what we can with what we have.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 9