Steven A. Bush - November 28, 2021
Three Good Samaritans
Luke 10:25-37 presents Jesus' familiar parable, "The Good Samaritan." Hated by the Jews, the Samaritans were the mixed-race remnant of the ten northern tribes of Israel. After their exile by the Assyrians in 722 BC, many captives were relocated to other lands while foreign colonists settled in Israel's north. These intermarried with the Israelite people left behind. Located between Galilee and Judea, their temple was at Mt. Gerizim, their capital was Samaria, and from this they drew their name. The Samaritans practiced a religion which was part Hebrew intermixed with paganism. In Luke 17 and John 4 we read about two encounters Jesus had with Samaritans. The first was with one of ten lepers healed by Jesus and he was the only one of the ten who returned to thank our Lord. The latter was with a woman Jesus met at the the Samaritan well in Sychar and to her He revealed Himself as the Messiah, the Christ. We dare not fail to name these two Samaritans as being "good" along with the star of Jesus' famous parable. But we most assuredly should not deem them as "good" by their own merits, but rather by the "good" bestowed upon them by Jesus. We can learn from these encounters. As the Apostle Paul instructs us in Romans 3:23-24: "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins." (NLT) And that is better than good!