This week, as we continue in our Luke series, we are reflecting on The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Today we see that this parable shows us Jesus before it speaks to our response.
‘But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’’ (Luke 10:33-35)
Lesson: See Jesus as the Saviour and hero of God’s story
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We all love to watch films that inspire us. We love a story to end with us feeling that we could be more like the hero or heroine. Secretly, we all want to be heroic and to be honoured for great deeds. We all want a John Williams’ theme like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Superman to accompany our lives. When we look at a group photo, most of us are eager to find ourselves first in order to check how good we look. Likewise, when we read a story like this, we are often quick to ask, ‘who am I meant to be in the story’? Are you the man by the side of the road? Are you the good Samaritan? Are you the religious person who doesn’t help? Are you the innkeeper? Today, I simply want us to see Jesus in the Parable. When we read this parable it’s easy to jump to application and the question, What must I do?’ However, the first question is, what has been done for me? It’s really helpful to always try to see Jesus and the gospel in any text of scripture that we are reading. How do we see Jesus and the gospel in this text?
We see Jesus in this Samaritan as he ‘came to where the man was and saw him.’ Jesus, came to us. He left heaven and glory to come to this fallen world.
We see Jesus in this Samaritan as ‘he took pity on him.’ In our sin and brokenness, Jesus has been moved with compassion. We’ve just celebrated Easter in which we see that Jesus, moved with mercy, suffered for us. May we see the same in this story.
We see Jesus in this Samaritan as ‘he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.’ Jesus heals us in many ways. It begins with the healing of our souls as He gives us new birth and a new heart. His healing continues as He sanctifies us and frees us from ungodly attitudes and habits. He, on occasion, heals our bodies miraculously, all of which is a token of our future and complete healing at the resurrection.
Finally, we see Jesus as we read, ‘the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ In this we see that Jesus paid the price for our redemption and healing. The price for our failing to love God and people as we should, was death, however, through Christ, the price of our sin has been paid. As Isaiah writes:
‘Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.’ (Isaiah 53:4-5)
Response
See Jesus as the Saviour and hero of God’s story. As we spend time in God’s Word each day, before we ask, what must I do or who must I become? Ask, what does this say about Jesus and the gospel? It’s vital that we see how we are and have been loved before we seek to love. Charles Spurgeon applied what I’m saying (about our seeing Jesus and the gospel as we read the Bible) to preaching:
‘Preach Jesus Christ, brethren, always and everywhere; and every time you preach be sure to have much of Jesus Christ in the sermon. You remember the story of the old minister who heard a sermon by a young man, and when he was asked by the preacher what he thought of it he was rather slow to answer, but at last he said, “If I must tell you, I did not like it at all; there was no Christ in your sermon.” “No,” answered the young man, “because I did not see that Christ was in the text.” “Oh!” said the old minister, “but do you not know that from every little town and village and tiny hamlet in England there is a road leading to London? Whenever I get hold of a text, I say to myself, ‘There is a road from here to Jesus Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.'” “Well,” said the young man, “but suppose you are preaching from a text that says nothing about Christ?” “Then I will go over hedge and ditch so that I get to Him.” So must we do, brethren; we must have Christ in all our discourses.’ (CH Spurgeon, The Soul Winner.)
So Whilst meditating on the Bible, yes it’s important to ask, How am I to be like David, like the deer panting for water, like Joseph, like Mary, like this Samaritan… but, more importantly, ask, how does this show me Jesus and the gospel? May our hearts be filled with Him before they are filled with ourselves!
COMMUNITY GROUP NOTES AND STUDY
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
Please ensure that the members of your group are aware and familiar with using the daily devotionals which is accessed in Church News, the Teaching button on the website and are now available on the major podcast platforms.
2. Icebreaker
How has God been speaking to you from His Word this week and how has this helped you?
3. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
4. Study and pray together
Our message from our series in Luke on Sunday, based upon The Parable of the Good Samaritan was entitled, 'Go and do Likewise'. Jesus uses this parable to show us how Christians are to live in order to please God, serve Him and become effective in reaching this world with the gospel.
Please read Luke 10:25-37, and discuss:
Did God speak to you about anything specifically from Sunday’s message?
What does the man’s question, “What must I do to be saved?” and the phrase, ‘he wanted to justify himself’, reveal about his approach to religion?
How do we see Jesus and the gospel in this story?
How is this parable designed to humble us before we seek to apply it?
How are we to live in response to this parable?
SIV - What does this parable teach about SIV (Serve, Invest and inVite)?
SIV - Do we have any stories of how we have ‘Served, Invested, and inVited’ recently?
Let’s pray together that, this week, we will have opportunities to SIV; and pray for anything else that’s came out of our time in God’s Word.
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