The good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

A Greek class was given an assignment to study the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. As is true in most classes, a couple or three of the students cared more about the practical implications of the assignment than its intellectual stimulation.

The three carried out a plan where one played the Samaritan victim. They tore his clothes, rubbed on mud and catsup to create "wounds," marked up his face and eyes, then placed him along the path that led from the dormitory to the classroom building. While the other two hid and recorded, he groaned and writhed, simulating great pain.

Not one student stopped. They walked around him, stepped over him, and said things to him. Nobody stopped to help.

This incident always reminds me of a scripture that penetrates the surface of our intellectual concerns. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" (1 John 3:16-17 NIV)

Following the will of the Lord requires wisdom, clear thinking, and yes, action! Those seminary students were full of the Word and probably had a great deal of love. But they did not see their fellow man lying beside the sidewalk. They were too full of "words" to see God's work right in front of their eyes.

You must really want to do the will of God!

---