Jesus doesn't want you to be like the Good Samaritan

The good Samaritan is perhaps the most misunderstood parable in the Bible. Dozens of ministries have been started with a desire to emulate the good Samaritan.

Hundreds of theologians have tried to pull out hidden truths from this parable and have come up with completely different ideas.

Some teach that Jesus desires to expose the Jericho road and that we would live in a day and age where good Samaritans are no longer needed.  Others expose the need to tear down walls between enemies, and others–probably the typical evangelical Christian–see in the good Samaritan a call to love other people and to be involved in social justice.

But is that what Jesus is saying in this parable?

In short, the point of the good Samaritan is not to go out and try to love someone like the good Samaritan did.  The point of this story is to point out the fact that you cannot save yourself. You simply can’t love perfectly like Jesus can.

Jesus is doing personal evangelism here, but, in typical Jesus fashion, He knows the man’s heart and knows exactly how to expose the sin that the person He is talking to is unwilling to give up. Here are five reasons why this parable is not a call to follow the Good Samaritan, but rather a reminder that we simply can’t save ourselves.

The lawyer’s self-righteousness

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 

The good Samaritan follows a question by a lawyer. It’s fascinating to read why he asked the question. This man asked the question in order to put Jesus to the test. The arrogance of this is astounding. Putting Jesus to the test is in itself the height of arrogance, but this man takes it to a whole other level. He uses himself as the test. What he is actually doing is saying that he is able to earn his way to heaven, of course. That Jesus will not be able to prove that he can’t save himself.

This man is just like every person I talk to every day that I evangelize. The vast majority believe that they are good people. When you ask them why they believe they are going to heaven, they act like mini good Samaritans. They say I’m a good person. I’ve never done anything that bad. I love people and help those around me. What they don’t realize is the requirements that God has in order to earn salvation.

Jesus doesn’t answer the question, He answers with a question of His own. He asks the man what the law says. And the lawyer knows the law and says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus’ answer is fascinating.  He tells him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” In other words, there are two ways to Heaven! One way is by being perfect. The other is by repenting of self-righteousness and trusting in the Perfect One. Since no one is able to achieve the first, then we all need the second.

The Lawyer’s need for rationalization

But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

There is something so interesting about this exchange. When we read the lawyers answer, we say, Of course, no one can love God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind. But every non-Christian I talk to still believes that they can. This man answered the question with confidence that he was following it perfectly!

But there must have been something in the way Jesus answered his statement. Jesus must have had either sarcasm in His voice, or it was obvious in His face that He didn’t believe the lawyer could do it because the lawyer felt the need to justify himself.

We must remember that Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan in order to expose the lawyer’s arrogance, and to show that he is incapable of loving his neighbor perfectly. And He tells the most outrageous of stories.

Jesus destroys the lawyer’s religion

And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

If we remember that Jesus is making this story up, then we must ask ourselves why does He go out of his way to tear down the lawyer’s religious heroes. This lawyer, who thinks he has the stuff to make it to Heaven, certainly believes that priests and Levites are holy enough as well, and yet Jesus goes out of His way to condemn them and their rules.

Perhaps it is because of their desire to not touch a dead body or because of some other silly rule they had in place, but these two men are unwilling to help their fellow Jew in a serious time of need. Jesus even adds the words “by chance” in order to dramatize the story. Obviously, Jesus isn’t saying that there are zero priests or Levites in all of Israel who would help someone who was bleeding on the side of the road.  He is getting at the heart of the lawyer and exposing the idolatry of his religion, his hatred for Samaritans, and ultimately his pride. And He brilliantly does it all by tearing down the lawyer’s idolatrous love for his religion.

Jesus uses the lawyer’s rival

But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion…

There is no one than the Jews hated more than the Samaritans. It seems as if they hated them even more than the Romans. Or the Amalekites, the Canaanites, and the parasites combined. Jesus brilliantly exposes this lawyer’s hate by using his most hated rival as the hero of His story.

The Pharisees and priests actually thought they were obeying God in their hate for anyone who wasn’t a Pharisee. They thought they were following Psalm 139:21-22. They hated the Samaritans so much that when they wanted to offend Jesus in John 8:48 they accused Him of having a demon and being a Samaritan, a double whammy in their minds.

Of course, we in the 21st century don’t understand this hatred, so we lose the sense of what Jesus is doing here. If we hated someone as much as the Jews hated the Samaritans, we would realize that it would be impossible for us to love this way. The lawyer, who is already justifying himself, is going to walk away bitterly just like the rich young ruler. The rich young ruler loved his money too much to follow Christ, and this man hated Samaritans too much. The reader of the good Samaritan is encouraged to put himself in the shoes of this lawyer and realize his inability to love this way.

The love of the Samaritan is reckless

And came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.

Jesus is describing reckless love here. This is a man who simply doesn’t care about himself. He gives him his clothes. Pours expensive oil and wine on his wounds. Touches his dirty and bloody body. Put him on his animal. Takes him to a hospital and pays for a two months’ stay. And then tells the hospital, I’ll pay for anything you charge above and beyond that.

This is reckless–he’s opening himself up to extortion! This is impossible to emulate, people would have a tough time doing this for someone they liked, let alone someone they considered their enemy. Jesus is describing a love that goes beyond human ability.

The story of the good Samaritan, like every parable, teaches us something about salvation. 

There is no hidden meanings or allegories. It is simply meant to expose the heart of this lawyer and his inability to love perfectly. It should drive us to our knees, and cause us to depend on the only one who can love like this good Samaritan, and that is Jesus Himself. Obviously, we should all strive to love our neighbor and enemies as ourselves, but we must remember why Jesus told this parable in its proper context.

We must also recognize what this parable teaches us about evangelism. We are called—to the best of our ability—to expose the pride in the unbeliever’s heart. We must ask questions and show the person we are evangelizing that they are depending on themselves rather than the One who died on the cross because we couldn’t save ourselves.

If you see someone dying on the side of the road, by all means, I beg you to help that person out, but remember that the reason why Jesus invented the good Samaritan was in order to expose our prideful and self-righteous hearts.