5-14-2022

 Good Morning!

Luke 10:34; “(He) went to him, and cleaned and bandaged his wounds. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”

    This verse comes from the parable of the “Good Samaritan.”  This is one of the better-known parables in the Bible. Most know the story, a man is robbed, a priest and a Levite pass by him, but a Samaritan stopped and helped the beaten man. That is when our verse shows up.

     We spend a lot of time hashing over this and other parables. That is the interesting thing about parables, as you read them, they tell you different things. You must be careful not to over read them but there is much to be seen. It is always important to keep the context of the story in mind. Who is the story told to and what is it about the listener that needs attention?

    The story is told to a lawyer, (you know that will make it interesting). The lawyer is trying to justify himself for his own salvation. So, Jesus tells him this story.  Most of the time we read this as a moral story of how we should act; we should be the “Good Samaritan.”  But there is a different way to read this.  Remember the lawyer is trying to justify his actions. He wants to think that there is something he can do to save himself but there isn’t.

    The lawyer, and you and me, are really the man who is beaten up. Helpless and hopeless in our life. We are left along the side of the road to die. False teachings of this world, self-induced lies, the devil’s deceptions, all pass us by when we are beaten down and hurt. There is no hope; we cannot really help our self. We are lost and beaten. We are beaten by the disappointments in our life, by the frustration of relationship struggles, by the overwhelming of one failure after another. We often times don’t even see the attackers and then they launch on us with a fury that we cannot withstand. We are left beaten and robbed, robbed of hope.

    Yet Jesus comes along, and he cleans us up (Baptismal language) He carries us to a place of safety (the Church), and he feeds us (Communion) and he tells the innkeeper that he will return (Second Coming).  Jesus is the one who saves us. He is the one to pick us up and to fix us. All the phony thoughts all the half-baked promises that the world makes always pass by on the other side of the road. This includes any delusion that you and I have that we can save our self or even justify our actions.

     Much of the time, we may feel beaten and destroyed. Yet Jesus comes to us with his healing comfort and picks us up and binds our wounds. He makes us whole again. He gives us a place of safety to rest. Isn’t that what we really need, is rest? God protects us from all the devil’s lies and his arrows of pain. He carries us to the inn where we are safe. It is by his grace that we are made whole.

Dearest Jesus, many times do we feel beaten and robbed in this world. Yet you pick us up and clean and bind our wounds. Give us the certainty of hope that we will always be safe with you resting in your loving arms. In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret