The Good Samaritan

Surprise, surprise........ it was another great day in New Testament. :)

We talked about the story of the Good Samaritan, one I'm sure almost everyone is familiar with at least the premise of. Today, however, we learned an allegorical interpretation I've never even considered before, although if I had looked around a little more I would have seen it taught by Martin Luther, John Welch, and others.

First of all, to understand it you have to know that topographically Jerusalem is the highest point in the Holy Land. People always spoke about going "up" to Jerusalem, the way we in America talk about going "up" if we're headed north. By contrast, Jericho is the lowest city in the world, below even the Dead Sea. So when Jesus talked about a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, he was really going down. This represents the Fall of man.

Next we read that this man "fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead." The thieves are Satan and his angels, and the wounds are sin. We are spiritually dead (being separated from God) but not yet physically dead.

Next, "by chance there came down a certain priest that way" who did not save the man. "And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side." Neither the priest [Law of Moses?] or the Levite [Priesthood] could save the fallen man. They came by chance, not on purpose. By chance certain children were born into the family of Israel and lived the Law of Moses. By chance they had the priesthood. But these things cannot save.

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was." This Samaritan is Christ, and He does not come by accident. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews, as was Christ. Both were half-bloods: the Samaritans a mix of Jew/Gentile, and Christ a mix of man/God.

"And when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him." Christ is infinitely compassionate. He comes to us, and he binds up the wounds of sin. The word "Gethsemane" means "olive press" or "oil press." Thus, the oil is the healing power of Christ's Atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane. The wine refers to the Sacramental wine, and thus represents Christ's blood shed for us. Christ setting us on his own beast is like the scripture in Isaiah: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows... the chastisement of our peace was upon him." He brings us to an inn, which represents the Church, and He takes care of us.

To the innkeeper, He says, "Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." To me, this is both a command and a promise. "Take care of him," and, "I come again." If I see myself as a wounded person who has been healed and brought to the inn, then I receive the Savior's command to take care of others who need healing and rest in the Church of God. I also take comfort in His promise to come again and repay me (though He need not do so) for my service in His Kingdom. The Samaritan's offer to essentially hand the innkeeper a blank check to take care of the wounded man implies a relationship of great trust between Christ and the people of His church. John Welch says that the Greek word used here for "spend" "implies that the innkeeper should spend freely, even to the point of wearing out or exhaustion."

Lastly, Jesus teaches us that "He that shewed mercy" was neighbor to him that fell among thieves, and instructs us to "Go, and do thou likewise." In other words, be like Christ. :)

I love this interpretation and I can't believe I've never even heard of or considered it before today! If you're interested, please read John Welch's article on the subject; it's fascinating and goes into much greater depth and provides better insight than I can here. So good. So cool. I love the Gospel. :) :) :)