On Sunday, I compared a tow-truck driver to the Good Samaritan, and on Monday a friend good-naturedly asked, “Is it really being a Good Samaritan if it’s your job?” I laughed and answered, “Hey, the guy came all the way from Wendover. You should be glad I didn’t call him the Good Wendoverian.” (It sounded funnier in person.) But then I started thinking about both the Samaritan and the man he rescued. We don’t know much about either traveler.
Jesus said, “a certain man” went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. It’s a 17-mile road that drops 3,600 feet in elevation, so taking the road down to Jericho was something you’d do because you needed to. This was no scenic byway. Steep. Dusty. Exposed. Windy. Hot. There’s no shade to speak of on the road to Jericho. This “certain man” must have had a purpose. If he was headed to Jericho, he likely had what he needed for the road. But he fell among thieves and they took his belongings. His clothing. They beat him and left him half dead on that dusty desert road. He was in trouble.
A priest passed. A Levite passed. “But then,” Jesus said, “a Samaritan journeyed by, who came where he was, and had compassion on him.”
Now, after seeing that the certain man had befallen trouble, was the Samaritan worried for his own safety? He, too, must have had a reason for traveling the treacherous route. He, too, was traveling with belongings, for Jesus said he had oil and cloth with him for dressing the wounds of the certain man. Sounds to me like this wasn’t the first time he had traversed this road. He had an idea what he might see and what he might need. He put the certain man on his beast and took him to an inn, where the Samaritan must have had a good reputation because when he promised to pay any further costs the next time he passed through, that was good enough for them.
I’m thinking he’d done this before - rescued people on the road - maybe other “certain” people who looked down on his hometown. But he still stopped to help. He still carried what might be needed.
Jesus found a way to teach us so many lessons in just a few verses. Did He know how short his mortal ministry would be? Did He know, centuries later, we would still be reading and re-reading His words to find answers and advice and caution for ourselves in the parables He told?
I think He did.
We are all on a Jericho Road. At some turns on the road, we are a certain man, beat up and left half dead, and praying someone will come along in the desert and have compassion for us. And at other turns, we are the Samaritan, equipped, well-versed in the perils of our journey, and able to offer help.
Always, Jesus is the Good Samaritan as we travel. Always, He meets us wherever we are on our journey and offers us aid. Always, He leads us to the safe route—
No matter how many times we need help, He will come to us, where we are.
No matter how many times we need rescue, He will show up.
Jesus Christ pre-paid the ultimate price to get each one of us safely home.
The bill is already settled.
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