Luke 10:25-37  The Good Samaritan

         1.   The man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho was
         probably a Jew (Harper Study Bible, 1309).  He was beaten and
         robbed by people disobeying the criminal law.

         2.   The priest and the Levite followed the religious law to
         the letter (supposedly) but they had no care for a person who
         was a victim of people disobeying the criminal law; a paradox
         of sorts.  They would persecute people for not obeying the
         religious law which is straining at the gnat and swallowing
         the camel (Matthew 23:23-24).

         3.   The priest and the Levite were certainly Jews, yet they
         did not have compassion on one of their own.  The Samaritan,
         who was hated by Jews by reason of nationality, was the only
         one of the three who showed compassion on the man.  It is not
         indicated, but it is possible that the man who was helped
         probably would not have associated with Samaritans either
         (John 4:9) prior to being thankful for the Samaritan helping
         him.  Thus, even though the man who was robbed (a Jew)
         probably hated him without reason, the Samaritan chose to
         love his enemies (Matthew 5:43-44).  This heaped burning
         coals upon his head (Proverbs 25:21-22, Romans 12:20).  Thus,
         the Samaritan overcame evil with good (Romans 12:21).  Not
         only did the Samaritan show mercy, but he showed
         unrestrained, unwarranted, undeserved mercy.

         4.  New Bible Dictionary indicates that the Jews and
         Samaritans had disliked each other for a long time although
         it doubts that the Samaritans of the Old Testament are the
         same as the ones of the New Testament.


                                 Bibliography

              Bible (New American Standard).  Nashville, Tennessee:
         Holman Bible Publishers, 1977.
              Douglas, J. D.  New Bible Dictionary - Second Edition.
         Wheaton, Illinois:  Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1982.
              Strong, James.  The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
         Peabody, Massachusetts:  Hendrickson Publishers).
              The NIV Study Bible (New International Version). Grand
         Rapids, Michigan:  Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1985.
              Zodhiates, Spiros.  The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible
         (King James Version).  Chattanooga, Tennessee:  AMG
         Publishers, 1985.