Luke 10:30, commentary and pictures

Jesus began the parable of the good Samaritan by telling of a traveler going down from Jerusalem to Jericho through a lonely, rocky wilderness known to be infested with robbers, who stripped him of all he had, beat and wounded him, and left him helpless and half dead by the roadside as something that had actually taken place. He spoke it to answer the self-justifying question of the lawyer, Who is my neighbor, after the lawyer had rightly answered that eternal life requires loving God with all heart, soul, strength and mind and loving neighbor as self. The suffering, helpless man in urgent need of pity and practical help is the neighbor to be loved without regard to nation, race, color, class, creed or other dividing barriers, while neighbor is also the one who shows such mercy in action. The wounded man pictures the lost human race and every soul stripped, wounded, robbed and left to perish by Satan and sin, including those degraded by intemperance, the despised and neglected colored race of the South, and the long-neglected work in the cities. The compassionate Samaritan pictures Christ who left glory to rescue, heal and redeem at his own cost, and true keeping of the law of love to God and neighbor is shown not in creeds or profession like the passing priest and Levite but in practical, disinterested deeds that relieve suffering and save souls.

Road and Robbery

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment and clothing, wounded and beat him, robbed him, and departed leaving him half dead, helpless, nearly dead and dying by the roadside. His helplessness and desperate, urgent need by the wayside set the need that others must meet with compassion and practical aid.

The road went down through a portion of the wilderness of Judea, down a steep, wild, rocky, lonely ravine known to be infested with robbers and often the scene of violence. The journey from Jerusalem to Jericho required passing through that dangerous descent, where attack and robbery were familiar dangers.

The incident is presented as something that actually took place, a recent event fresh in the minds of the hearers and familiar to them, known to a number of people. Jesus related this true and recently happened occurrence rather than a mere invention, and its freshness gave force to what followed.

The traveler was a Jew, a descendant of Abraham, who should have awakened the sympathy of his own people. His distressing need left him in urgent want of a friend, and his being of their own nation made the claim on them the stronger. The thieves stripped him of everything valuable and of all that was valuable, wounding him and leaving him half dead by the road and wayside. Their cruelty violates the law of love to neighbor, and they left him to die partly from fear of being discovered.

Lawyer's Question Answered

Jesus answers the self-justifying question, Who is my neighbor, which the lawyer asks after asking what must be done to inherit eternal life. The lawyer himself has rightly answered from the law that a man must love the Lord God with all heart, soul, strength and mind and his neighbor as himself, and has been told that he answered right and to do this and live. Dissatisfied with loving his neighbor as himself, he wants to know who his neighbor is, and Luke 10:30 begins Christ's answer with a poor sad man traveling down from Jerusalem to Jericho who is met by robbers, stripped of clothing and of everything valuable, cut and wounded apparently unto death, and left half dead and barely alive. The incident is presented as something that actually took place, and with the rest of the story it sums up all the principles contained in God's law. The story is given to explain the command to love one's neighbor as oneself and Jesus' word, this do and thou shalt live.

The verse belongs to Christ's instruction about inheriting eternal life and about what fulfilling God's law requires, and it should be studied and applied to each person's own life. Loving one's neighbor as oneself is part of the terms of salvation, and this love must be whole-hearted rather than merely professed, so that harming fellow believers in business or by example fails this duty. The discourse gives listeners light about truth in Jesus and raises the question whether they will obey God and walk in the way of His commandments. The parable rests on the foundation of Christ giving His life for the world. Those tested and proved in loving others as themselves are made meet for an inheritance with the saints in light.

Jesus answers not by controversy or by debating definitions but by telling the parable of the good Samaritan beginning here. The traveler's helpless, dying need by the roadside sets up the need that the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan afterward meet with neglect or mercy. A priest comes, looks, pities yet passes by on the other side, and a Levite comes and looks, though it is the business of the Levites to attend to such suffering, but leaves him because the sight is forbidding. A Samaritan comes, has mercy, gets off his horse, examines and binds up his wounds, sets him on his own beast, walks beside him to an inn, pays for his care, and promises to pay more on his return. The lawyer and listeners forget their prejudice and answer that he that showed mercy on him was neighbor to him that fell among thieves, and this having mercy is keeping the law of love to God with all heart, soul and strength and to neighbor as self, by which men live and gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Christ's command, Go, and do thou likewise, makes this story a direct outline of the work people are to do in showing mercy and helping those in need.

Who Counts as Neighbor

The wounded man on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, stripped, beaten and left half dead, helpless and dying by the roadside, is the neighbor men are to love. He is stranger or friend, a helpless brother fallen into decay, everyone in need of the help that can be bestowed, every suffering fellow human being calling for mercy, sympathy and practical help. Being a neighbor is not decided by nation or religious profession, nor by church or faith, race, color or social class, nor by caste, rank, territorial lines or other dividing barriers. He is not to be passed by on the other side or left alone because helping is uninviting and costs inconvenience, care and anxiety, but his wounds are to be bound up with kindness in word and act, with interest and compassion as the Lord's helping hand, which is Christlike love, supreme love for God and unselfish love for others, genuine medical missionary work and the practice of the law of God summed in Go, and do thou likewise.

The neighbor is also the one who shows mercy through practical, compassionate care for someone in need. The priest came, looked with pity and passed by on the other side, and the Levite, whose business it was to attend such suffering, came and looked but left him because the sight was forbidding, while the Samaritan came, had mercy, got off his beast, examined and bound up his wounds pouring in oil and wine, set him on his own beast, walked beside him to an inn, paid for his care and promised to pay more on his return. Forgetting prejudice, the hearers answered that he that showed mercy was neighbor to him that fell among thieves, and this having mercy is keeping the law of love to God with all heart, soul and strength and to neighbor as self, by which men live and gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

His desperate, urgent, dying condition tests whether those who see him will act as neighbors, revealing whether they will show the mercy the law requires rather than indifference. His helplessness makes clear that he needs a neighbor's compassion and aid, and his plight becomes the occasion for showing who acts as a neighbor. In Christ the Jewish distinctions as to who is neighbor are swept away, so there are no territorial lines, no artificial distinctions, no caste, no aristocracy in showing mercy, and the church must not stand asking Who is my neighbor to limit duty but must undertake the work lying nearest, even toward families within the shadow of its own doors. Love must therefore extend even to enemies and bitter opponents, to fellow believers in weakness, and to unbelievers and those outside the fold, becoming acquainted with them, placing truth before those living up to all the light they have, and loving with all the heart those Christ died to redeem in order to bring them into fellowship with the saints, including precious souls in cities such as Melbourne, with prejudice of color or caste lifted by faith that works by love.

Humanity Stripped and Wounded

The wounded traveler is a picture of humanity itself, the lost human race deceived, bruised, robbed and ruined by Satan and left to perish, stripped, wounded and left destitute by sin. His half-dead condition shows a fallen race needing rescue, whose eternal destiny turns on whether the law is obeyed in mercy, and whose value is measured in the light of the cross. The call is to temperance against intemperance, to freedom through Christ from enslaving perverted appetite for drink and tobacco, to flee without wasting moments to the refuge, lay hold on eternal life, and recognize souls to save or souls to lose.

He is also every individual soul wounded and bruised by the adversary, everyone who most needs sympathy and help and who is God's property, including a helpless brother fallen into decay. He is neighbor to whoever can help him, meaning everyone in need of help that can be bestowed, whether wounded stranger straying from Christ or believer left uncared for. He is not to be passed by on the other side or left alone because helping is uninviting and costs inconvenience, care and anxiety, and the church must not narrow duty by asking who is neighbor but must undertake the work lying nearest, even toward families within the shadow of its own doors. To bind up such wounds with kindness in word and act, showing interest and compassion as the Lord's helping hand, is Christlike love, supreme love for God and unselfish love for others, genuine medical missionary work and the practice of the law summed in go and do likewise.

He pictures souls in sin in peril of dying and losing heaven and immortal life, people fallen, degraded, bruised and struggling with temptation, pursued and wounded by the destroyer and passed by. Especially he pictures those broken down and ruined by intemperance, by liquor, tobacco and stimulants, whom the priest and Levite see but pass without helping. Christians must not pass them by, for to see such need and leave the sufferer to die is cruel and wicked and provokes God's grievous anger, as parents would burn with righteous indignation against men who let their child die when they could have saved her. The Samaritan work is to seek them out with patient, personal care, attend first to physical needs with food, suitable drink, clean clothing and hopeful words, make self-sacrificing efforts to uplift and save them and lead them to Him, through whom Christ can use His compassion and power to rescue them from Satan's grasp.

The man robbed, stripped, beaten and left half dead by the roadside is the Southern field long neglected and the colored race despised, neglected, oppressed and deprived after slavery, wounded by a so-called Christian nation and left by the wayside. He sets up the test of how others respond to suffering, with the priest who pitied yet passed by and the Levite who passed by on the other side representing failure to help, and the Samaritan who had compassion, bound up wounds with oil and wine, carried him to an inn, cared for him and paid for continued care representing the mercy and evangelistic work now required. The scene calls for decided, earnest effort not to pass by but to show mercy with compassion and practical care to the destitute, suffering, wounded and dying, to repair the wrong, give the help their circumstances require, educate, uplift, teach spiritual freedom, care for temporal and spiritual needs, and restore humanity to the Creator's moral image in obedience to go and do likewise.

His plight is also the long-neglected work in the cities, looked at and passed by instead of helped, with New York City and other cities as neighbor in every sense of the word and the Southern field close by. To see the need of the cities and leave it unhelped is guilt like that of the priest and Levite, bringing the curse for not coming to the help of the Lord, and calls all who can to take up city work wholeheartedly, intelligently and unselfishly. The lesson answers whether to put up extra buildings and conveniences at Battle Creek with No, for the establishment there is overgrown and spreading over too much ground and the printing plant is to be diminished not extended. Money entrusted by God must be more equally distributed instead of kept in one place, for stewards handle God's money not their own and are tested whether they will carry the work to other places, dividing and subdividing interests, extending truth by properly proportioned institutions in many places, working His vineyard without delay, and sending help to Nashville, to California to create facilities, and to the Southern field as neighbor.

The same figure stands for particular sufferers left unaided: an afflicted brother of generous heart cruelly torn in pieces, nerves shocked beyond recovery, unable to bear or surmount obstacles, who erred in judgment by purchasing too largely. It stands for Edson White left desperate when those responsible neglected duty and judged him beyond help, exposing in them a worse spiritual condition than his though their faults and motives were hidden, for God weighs the heart not standing in human opinion. It stands for Brother Leininger's family seen in need yet passed by on the other side, for Brother Myers sick, for one's own people in poverty, for neighbors close at hand left in darkness needing the light of life and warning message, especially the colored people and cities of the Southern field such as Huntsville, and for a brother, a neighbor and even an institution destitute of necessities like the Huntsville school planted in the Southern field. Brethren blessed with health must feel interested, look especially to the afflicted, pity and sympathize, lend a helping hand each aiding a little so help is unfelt, supply lack, comfort and cheer, open houses, visit the sick, and do as they would wish to be done by were they crippled, for to withhold favor, oppress the crippled, hinder by unbelief, discouragement, criticism and withholding means, keep the foot on the brake, or leave them unaided forfeits well-doing, is noticed by God, and must give place to going personally if possible, putting every power of body and mind to work, taking earnest interest, sending tried men from church to church to set needs before the people, and sustaining by liberal gifts from both the South and stronger conferences in the North, with every unselfish effort blessed by the Lord.

Law Love and Life

The story beginning here sums up all the principles contained in God's law, giving the answer to who is neighbor after the right statement of the law to love God with all heart, soul, strength and mind and to love neighbor as self, with the word this do and thou shalt live for inheriting eternal life. Love to God and love to neighbor are the two great arms of the law, holding God supreme under the first four commandments and love to fellow men under the last six, and keeping that law of love is showing mercy as the Samaritan did to the man fallen among thieves, by which men live and gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven. That keeping must be acted out in practical justice and mercy and in revealing God's character by representing Christ as Christ represents the Father, not merely professed, for the priest and Levite who see the suffering man and pass by fail this duty while the Samaritan who goes to him, binds his wounds, brings him to an inn and cares for him is neighbor by showing mercy as commanded in go and do likewise.

The verse sets forth the condition of eternal life in the simplest manner, that loving neighbor as oneself is part of the terms of salvation and must be whole-hearted rather than merely professed. Neglecting every needy and unfortunate case brought under notice, no matter who they are and whether kith or kin, leaves no assurance of eternal life, because God's claims go unanswered and compassion and pity for humanity are lacking. Such neglect transgresses the second great commandment to love neighbor as self, upon which the last six commandments depend, so that offending in one point makes guilty of all, and a heart unopened to human wants and sufferings will not open to God's claims in the first four precepts, proving idols claim the heart and God does not reign supreme. Those tested and proved in loving others as themselves are made meet for an inheritance with the saints in light, in the home of the pure and undefiled where none will exalt self as Lucifer did or rebel over another's brighter crown.

True religion is not systems, creeds or rites but loving deeds, genuine goodness and bringing others the greatest good. The priest and Levite who pass by the robbed, stripped, wounded man left half dead reveal cruelty and selfishness despite claims to exalted righteousness, giving no evidence of pity and love, though zealous for the letter of the law. The Samaritan, though despised, hated and cursed, is set forth as possessing character far superior to theirs, manifesting pity and love in disinterested benevolence, treating the wounded stranger as he himself would desire to be treated, obeying the spirit of the commandments in true benevolence. A person's worth before God does not depend on nation or religious profession but on the spirit shown in action, so religious profession without mercy owed to friends, neighbors and strangers alike does not meet the obligation.

Loving God supremely shapes how property is used, for every kind of possession is a talent loaned in trust by God to be managed with wisdom and sanctified judgment subordinate to eternal interests to best advance His glory. Money cannot confer happiness unless the Lord's name is glorified with its use, and when it charms the heart it becomes a snare and master rather than an agent for good, worshiped as an idol above the favor of God, interposing between the soul and obedience to ruin eternal interests, for no one can serve God and mammon. To serve God with heart and mind and affection is to work for His name's glory and use His entrusted gifts as one who must give account of how his Lord's goods were used, remaining accountable for relieving temporal and spiritual needs instead of passing by in need. So stewards handling God's money and not their own are tested whether they will distribute it more equally instead of keeping it in one place, dividing overgrown and spreading interests and extending the work without delay to other places and fields in need.

The passage draws the line between obedience and disobedience to the law and calls transgressors to decide eternal destiny in temperance against intemperance. It calls to freedom from enslaving perverted appetite for drink and tobacco through Christ as strength and safety, valuing the human soul in light of the cross of Calvary. The fallen humanity shown wounded and half dead needs rescue, with souls to save or to lose, so no more moments are to be wasted but refuge fled to and eternal life laid hold on.

Christ and Passersby

The Samaritan pictures Christ himself, the compassionate rescuer of a humanity deceived, wounded, robbed, ruined and left to perish by Satan. He humbled himself to serve, left his glory and the royal courts, came to bridge the gulf sin made between man and God, and gave his life to save souls perishing in sin and to redeem them by dying for them. He heals wounds, gives his robe of righteousness to cover the destitute soul, opens a refuge of safety, provides fully for every need at his own cost, and by his stripes brings healing. His life and work expose failure to keep the commandments and to love neighbor as self, and leave no ground for contempt, indifference, or claims of superiority, since sinners can obey only through his merit and grace. The same rescuing pity is to be shown in decided efforts for those degraded and left to perish by the wayside, as after slavery gained freedom without spiritual freedom, following Christ who did not leave degraded humanity in its degradation.

God's providence brought the priest and Levite face to face with the helpless sufferer and placed him where sympathy and compassion could meet his need. He orders human events in this way and permits suffering and calamity to draw people out of selfishness and to awaken tenderness, compassion and love. Those who instead serve God by ministering to the desperate stranger in need do not work alone, for angels stand beside them and Christ works with them as restorer.

The priest who looked, pitied yet passed by on the other side, and the Levite who looked though it was his business to attend such suffering yet left him because the sight was forbidding, represent neglect, indifference, false reasoning and refusal to be inconvenienced or to consecrate life to self-denying service. Their failure is the failure of those appointed to teach Scripture and represent God and of those expected first to show compassion, a class on the church books who see the work to be done yet refuse it. It is repeated in churches passing by many in need all about them, at Battle Creek, toward the Southern field long neglected as a man robbed and beaten and left to die, and toward needy mission fields, as seen when many refused help at the San Francisco earthquake. The scene was also a true and familiar event, a descendant of Abraham left in urgent need, and Christ's telling rebukes all guilty of the same indifference and commands mercy that keeps the law of love to God and neighbor by which men live.

The Samaritan's pity and love flowed out in disinterested benevolence, treating the unknown wounded stranger as he himself would wish to be treated, relieving him as best he could, carrying him on his own beast to an inn and providing for his wants at his own expense without asking whether he was relative or of his country or creed. Though a member of a despised people, hated and cursed, he obeyed the law of human kindness across hostility and prejudice while the priest and Levite failed to use their opportunity, and his deed stands as the example of duty receiving Christ's approval. His compassion on seeing need, simply because he saw it, was controlled by the Holy Spirit and showed an indwelling Christ and the work of the Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit works upon hearts and minds, people become tender and sensitive to another's woe and pitiful toward suffering, and do not leave the wounded, bruised, helpless soul in misery alone or shun duty and responsibility by passing by on the other side. To know Satan has his trap set for a soul and go home caring nothing for the lost sheep is to fail to represent the good Samaritan and to partake of the enemy's attributes rather than the divine nature. The example to follow instead is constant charity and godliness in ministry to such souls, in which God's power is magnified and angels join with human workers.

Mercy in Practice

The half-dead traveler is every helpless brother fallen into decay, every suffering and destitute person whose need comes under notice, whether stranger or friend, kith or kin, believer or unbeliever and those outside the fold, and he is neighbor to whoever can help him. The duty is to notice his circumstances and relieve wants and suffering as far as possible, to do good to all, to supply physical necessities, to feed the hungry, to bring the poor that are cast out into homes, to reach to the very depths of human misery, and to help those who cannot possibly help themselves. This is not to be done by donations of money alone but by personal ministry according to strength and opportunity, with grace and strength gathered from God every day, becoming acquainted with the needy, placing truth before those living up to all the light they have, and loving with all the heart those redeemed from sin in order to bring them into fellowship with the saints, including precious souls in cities such as Melbourne. It is not to be passed by on the other side or left alone because helping is not inviting and costs inconvenience, care and anxiety, but wounds are to be bound up with kindness in word and act, with interest and compassion as a helping hand, which is supreme love for God and unselfish love for others, genuine medical missionary work, and the practice of the law summed in Go, and do thou likewise. Temporal needs are to be met first, easing suffering and opening a way to the heart for the seeds of virtue and religion and for setting forth Christ the crucified One.

That same work is medical missionary work as pioneer work joined to gospel ministry, entering homes to relieve sickness and reaching people whom others have failed to help, as with the colored race described as robbed, bruised, beaten and left for dead. Physicians are to follow the Samaritan by going vigorously to work to relieve the suffering of the people they are called to treat and visit, doing real, compassionate work rather than merely speaking briefly and charging a large fee. Those who treat the injured must at the same time recognize their limits, seek instruction from experienced caregivers, and serve with humble, responsible service.

Acting as neighbor means noticing circumstances and providing practical help, as in finding work for a willing man so he can support his family rather than leaving him to beg or go without life's necessities. It means feeling interested for one another, with those blessed with health showing kind regard, care and favor for those without it, visiting and helping the sick, opening houses to strangers overtaken by sudden trouble free of cost, and arranging the safest and most comfortable help available even at personal or institutional cost, for care shown to a disciple is care shown to Jesus. For an afflicted brother of generous heart who has been cruelly torn in pieces, his nerves shocked beyond recovery, unable to bear or surmount obstacles, and who erred in judgment by purchasing too largely, brethren are to look to him especially, pity and sympathize, lend a helping hand, each aid a little so the help is unfelt, supply his lack, and comfort and cheer his heart, doing to him as they would wish to be done by were they crippled like him. To go over on the other side is to look on with indifference when a man struggling with honest endeavor to sustain himself and his family suffers for necessary food and clothing, or to prescribe conditions for his relief that are virtually impossible of fulfillment while making no decided effort to change his condition, and ministering brethren who do this will not be pronounced guiltless. It is the same to leave aching, distressed hearts crying for relief with the yoke of oppression on their necks and pass them over, even while pressing every dime into the treasury to help the cause, which is a false theory that permits distress and want, whereas divine truth is Jesus in the life, a living, active principle of loving one another as Christ loved, and the glory of heaven is in lifting up the fallen and speaking peace to those crying for relief. To withhold favor, to oppress the crippled and afflicted and leave him unaided, violates the command Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, which must be practiced as well as preached by making the unfortunate brother's condition one's own, is noticed by God, and forfeits the sweet satisfaction and reward of well-doing. When duty is made plain by God's Word, caution pleaded to avoid that duty is blameworthy and should be criticized, not encouraged.

Passing by like the priest and Levite, who saw but passed without seeing or feeling another's suffering, is neglect of duty to a neighbor and shows failing sympathy and tenderness to the unfortunate. The wounded and robbed man represents every needy and unfortunate case brought under notice as subjects for interest, sympathy and charity, and neglecting such cases leaves no assurance of eternal life, because the claims of God are unanswered and compassion and pity for humanity are lacking. Such neglect transgresses the second great commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself, upon which the last six commandments depend, and to offend in one point is to be guilty of all, for a heart unopened to the wants and sufferings of humanity will not open to the claims of God stated in the first four precepts, proving idols claim the heart and affections and God is not honored and does not reign supreme. As the robbers acted with cruelty, disregarding the law of love and leaving the victim to die partly from fear of being discovered, so the suffering of the wounded man tests professed religion and sacred roles, and failure to assist shows that leaving a suffering neighbor unrelieved breaks God's law and that knowing the law's words is not the same as living by its principles. Mercy must therefore not be selective or ruled by impulse while showing concern for some and neglecting others in need, but guided by careful judgment about how to help the truly needy, with compassionate help for people in desperate need, including those whom churches have passed by, so they may be lifted up and saved.

The Samaritan's work means loving as Christ loved, in a pure, heavenly, unselfish atmosphere, seeking the salvation of souls, and one closely connected with Christ is lifted above prejudice of color or caste. Then faith takes hold of eternal realities, the heart is filled with faith that works by love and purifies the soul, the divine Author of truth is uplifted, God controls minds so human hearts love as Christ loved, triumph over prejudice comes, and the color-line is regarded very differently as the Southern field is worked, the Holy Spirit is poured out, and the loud cry is given. The colored people of the South are neighbors in the sight of God with souls to save, and to pass by on the other side is to look on their destitute and discouraging condition with regret and pity from a distance while keeping eyes fastened on more promising fields near one's own borders. Keeping the lesson requires the missionary spirit that forms character after the pattern of Christ Jesus, lifting up the eyes to see unworked fields, unitedly taking hold to enter in and reap, and considering and helping those in greatest need with practical help without loss of time. As the priest and Levite who saw the bruised and wounded traveler left by the wayside and passed by picture those who see the wretchedness of the black race and could help them but neglect them, the wounded man's hunger for sympathy and help pictures their low estate and calls for the very kind of labor their circumstances require so that souls who can still be reached may be saved. When these souls are converted they become partakers of the divine nature, manifesting divine compassion for those they can help, and go forth to rescue their fellow men, leading those in darkness into light, so that those helped in their low estate in turn contribute to the good of others.