But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. Luke 10:33 (NKJV)

The Beaten Man – Neighbors Series – Part 6

Go to PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7  |  PART 8

A man was leading his donkey down a road in-between cities. It had been a long day, and the silence of the road was a welcome friend. As he came round a corner, his eye caught hold of something that didn’t fit the landscape. He couldn’t make out what it was at first, but with strained eyes, he inched closer and started to pick out crimson and purple and black smudged into each other in what turned out to be the leftover flesh scraps of a beaten man dying in the dirt.

The beaten man’s breathing was labored and inconsistent, hovering between this life and the next, caught in a nightmare, unable to open his eyes to the light or pry his lips apart to cry for help. The traveler’s stomach heaved and convulsed at the thought of how much pain this broken man was in.

Compelled by compassion, he bent down, took the skin of water from his belt and put it up to the beaten man’s lips. It took a while, but they finally parted. Water rushed into his split mouth, spilling over the sides, cleaning blood from his face in skin-toned streams.

The traveler took a tunic from his possessions, tore it into strips and started to clean the beaten man’s wounds, dressing them as best he could. Countless wounds: broken bones, rocks embedded into skin, deep gashes, torn skin, thick hot blood: it seemed there was more blood around him than in him.

The traveler lost sense of time and space as he tenderly gathered the beaten man together bit by bit. And as the sun began to dip behind the desert mountains, he gently lifted him onto his donkey, it took longer than he thought and set off in search for help.

————-

Jesus audience would have welcomed and applauded this traveler had he been an Israelite, a merchant, a priest… they may have been pleasantly surprised if he turned out to be a Roman, displaying unexpected benevolence to help a beaten up Jew…

But a Samaritan?
Heck no. No way. Impossible. No. No. No.

The person you hate, the one you live in fear of, those you cannot stand to share space with, who have hurt you so deeply there can be no recompense; the person or group that you just wrote or read a nasty blog about; the people you want to lock away, keep out, build walls between, ignore, and distance yourself from…
That person? Those people? That group?

That’s who the Samaritans were to the Jews. And vice versa.

Six hundred odd years earlier, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians and then repopulated by them, birthing a race mixed with foreigners. Mixed faith, mixed blood. Samaritans. The rift between the Jews and the Samaritans grew quick and vast, solidifying through the centuries. They were sworn enemies.

This parable digs deep into my mess. There are people who offend me, oppose me and who I oppose. They get under my skin and make it crawl. There are people I feel disconnected from, deep chasms between us, enemy through hurt, fear, confusion, hatred, differences…

And this is who stopped to help the Jewish man beaten to the very edge of life. He didn’t stop to inflict more pain, but to help. To bind up his wounds. Quench his thirst.

Save his life.

Compassion found in the most unbelievable place.

What would you do if the person, or people group, you believed to be your sworn enemy, turned out to rescue you and bring you back from the edge of death? Carry you to safety, stay with you through the night as you fight infection in your body and death in your dreams; pay for your care and bring you food. And when he goes to leave, promises to return, and then DOES, to ensure your recovery is complete. Could you owe your life to the one you want to be furthest away from?

Could this person become your neighbor?

Your turn… Who are the Samaritans in your life? Leave us your comments below.

Go to Part 7 – The Good Samaritan »

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