The Good Samaritan

Jan 14

When we read the story about the Good Samaritan, most folks never think about the full picture. We just think, “That’s a great story Jesus told about being a good neighbor.”

Or maybe it just reminds us about a State Farm commercial lol.

But we rarely put all the pieces together, and that’s just sad, but I'm guessing it’s probably because when we hear it, it’s coming from our pastor preaching about that passage, so we read along for the story, nod our heads, and then move on. Everyone knows the story, and everyone agrees that it’s a powerful one. (At least we can agree on something, right?)

But what’s crazy is it all started out when a religious leader was trying to test Jesus, then asked Jesus (of course trying to justify himself) But he asked “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25–37). This wasn’t a man asking how to love better, he was asking how little he could love and still be okay.

My brother said once, “The Bible says I should love my neighbor. Man, I’m so glad I don’t have neighbors!” lol.

But Jesus made this very clear: A neighbor isn’t just the person living next door, it’s actually anyone in need. In the same way, Jesus said to follow Him, it’s not about religion, not about rules, but about a relationship with Him. It’s all about your freaking heart!

Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27, Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18)

He also said that “on these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40).

Paul said that same thing later, “The greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Without love, nothing matters. And that my friend is the whole freaking point of the Good Samaritan story.

I really liked how The Chosen TV show showed the heart of God in this story. They didn’t show the Good Samaritan directly, but they did show the bandit who was responsible for beating the Jewish man and robbing him, and how Jesus then later helped him, which I thought was a great take on the story. Of course, that’s not in the Bible so it could’ve or couldn’t have happened. But that kind of story helps to remind us of God’s mercy everyday for us here in real life.

Who Were the Samaritans?

But here’s where it seems to start stepping on toes, and for some reason ain’t nobody wearing steel-toes these days!

Most people never think about who the Samaritans were. We know the woman at the well was a Samaritan (John 4:7–26). But we often don’t even try to think of the history.

I’m definitely no scholar, I mean I had a hard time trying to even figure out how to spell that word. Lol

But the way I understand it is, that after Solomon’s kingdom split, Israel (the northern kingdom) made Samaria its capital (1 Kings 16:24). They then turned to idols and foreign gods. God sent prophets to warn them, but they ignored Him. Finally, Assyria conquered Samaria in roughly 720 BC and filled it with foreigners who mixed with the Israelites who were left. (2 Kings 17:6, 24–41).

So by the time Jesus was here on earth, The Jews saw Samaritans as half-breeds, rebellious Israelites who had abandoned true worship, built their own temple on Mount Gerizim (John 4:20), and twisted God’s law. The Pharisees thought they were the holy elite, the “King Ding-a-lings” of righteousness, while the Samaritans were just pure trash.

But again, Jesus flipped the tables just like He always does. He showed that God looks at the heart, not the label, not the birthplace, not your color, not even what mountain you worship on, or what “church” you go to. None of that crap matters.

The only thing that matters is that our hearts and minds and soul love God and we are in a personal relationship with Jesus.

God calls His People Unfaithful

Okay, now if you ain’t got your cup of coffee yet, well you better get it. Grab your steel-toe shoes while you’re up, because it’s about to be on!

I just finished Amir Tsarfati’s book “Exploring Ezekiel” and at the same time I was reading through (Ezekiel 23).

Now this is a chapter most churches never touch because, well let’s be honest, it’s rough, like Amir would say, “not kid or family friendly.”

Everyone skips over this because it’s graphic. Even Amir, in his own way, kinda wanted to just move through this. But let’s think about this explanation for a second.

God could’ve chosen any example or illustration to describe Israel and Judah’s sin, but He chose the image of two prostitute sisters, Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem) who betrayed Him by chasing after other lovers, meaning other gods (Ezekiel 23:1–49).

“They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth.” “Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth.” (Ezekiel 23:3,19)

Samaria prostituted herself with foreign nations and false gods, instead of following the One true God, even after He spoke to them, lead them out of slavery, did amazing miracles, and blessed them beyond measure.

Then Judah the “faithful ones” saw everything Samaria did and what God did to them, they claimed to be better, but then became even worse (Ezekiel 23:11).

What’s crazy is, even Jesus carried on the same story centuries later. The religious leaders of His day looked down on Samaritans, but He showed them they were the real idolaters, worshiping rules & laws (religion) instead of God. (Which of course is what we are still doing today.)

Jesus spent most of His time with tax collectors and prostitutes because they knew they needed saving (Matthew 9:10–13, Luke 7:36–50).

The Pharisees didn’t like this because these people were outcasts, rebels, sinners, not pure and righteous like they thought they were, but Jesus said to them:

“Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.” (Matthew 21:31)

Even though they thought they were better, thought they had it figured out, followed the law to perfection, gathered in the synagogue, prayed with there heads lifted high, and worshiped at the temple, They were cheating on God, the Creator, the Great I Am, with religion.

This is why Jesus came: to restore a relationship with His people, both Israel and Judah, the two unfaithful brides.

But they still rejected Him, and so He turned His blessed vineyard over to outsiders and foreigners (Matthew 21:33–46).

This ain’t new folks, this ain’t the only time you hear about this. God used this imagery all through the prophets: for example in (Hosea 1–3) God told Hosea to marry Gomer, a prostitute, to show how Israel kept being unfaithful. Another time in (Jeremiah 3:1–10) God said, “You have played the whore with many lovers,” yet He still called them to return. Back in (Isaiah 1:21) “Faithful city has become a whore.”

One of the best and saddest examples is in (Ezekiel 16) This is a long and heartbreaking chapter where God describes raising Jerusalem as His bride, only for her to turn and “play the whore.”

There is so much through the Bible about this that it almost makes you sick, but these few passages show how seriously God views idolatry and spiritual unfaithfulness, God wants us to participate in a relationship not practice religion, it’s flat out adultery against Him. (Jeremiah 7:8-15)

The Temple Became an Idol

It’s incredible that right after God had Ezekiel tell the story of the two prostitute sisters, something else happens, and it make the story even sadder but more powerful. In (Ezekiel 24) God told Ezekiel that his own wife, the delight of his eyes, was going to die, and that he wasn’t allowed to mourn for her.

Can you even imagine? That would be devastating and painful!

“Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down.” (Ezekiel 24:16)

That sounds insane, but then when read the whole thing like most folks don’t, then you realize what God was showing Israel, and spoiler, it’s still insane!

The holy temple in Jerusalem that David the man after Gods own heart started preparations for, and then his son Solomon built had now become the “delight of their eyes.” They loved it more than they loved God.

They worshiped the building, the ritual, the system they built, not the God who once filled it with His presence.

Not only that, but they made their own gods to worship and put in the temple, made their own prayers and rituals, and even made new golden calves to worship, I mean, the gods that brought them out of Egypt, remember that? (Read that article here) “The Golden Calf”

But here is something else I find very interesting is, When everyone says “God destroyed the temple because someone defiled it,” that’s really only half true. Because God Himself actually defiled it, because they had already turned it into an idol.

“I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul.” (Ezekiel 24:21)

It wasn’t that outsiders or foreigners ruined something pure; it was that Israel had made something that was made to honor and point to God a big fat idol instead. David wanted to build a house for God to come live in, and the full purpose was because he loved God and wanted to do something for Him, out of the goodness of his heart, David had a palace, he had all kinds of possessions that God blessed him with, he wanted to do something for God in return. But the people of Israel took this gesture that came from Davids heart for God, and turned it into a golden calf, and then made it their god, instead of the One true God.

Then just like Ezekiel lost the one he loved most, God let His people lose the thing they loved most, God told them He must be first, Love Him more then anything else that’s rule #1 but they didn’t understand that it was (and still is) all about the heart and a relationship with God, not man-made religion.

The temple was never meant to be worshiped; it was meant to point to God. Literally David wanted to build it, and God said, “I don’t live in things made by hand.”

But still Solomon ended up building it, then he asked God to put His name on it, and asked if the people were ever in trouble or forgot the Lord their One true God or rebelled, then they could point to the temple and remember what it’s all about.

This wasn’t because they had their binoculars trying to find the temple in the far hazy distance; this was because they fully understood that the temple was made to honor God’s holy name and all He did for them, creating heaven and earth, giving them breath, giving them land, giving them animals and dominion over every creature, then bringing them from slavery and setting them free! (Genesis 1, 1 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 6)

But when the people worshiped the temple and the things inside instead of the Lord their God, He had no choice but to destroy their idol that they loved, that way they would finally realize what they’d lost. And it wasn’t the building or the things they put inside it, but it was losing God’s almighty presence among them.

Now let me speculate here for a second. I bet these folks weren’t going in front of the temple and just kneeling and praying to the temple saying: “This is the god that brought us out of Egypt” now they could have been, at least some of them anyways, but I think we can get some really good insight what they were doing from the Pharisees.

The Pharisees thought since they had “God’s temple,” they were good to go. Since the temple was in Jerusalem and not Samaria, well that automatically bumped Samaria out from being Gods people, and made the people of Jerusalem the righteous ones. They thought that whatever they decided to do inside those temple walls was holy, because the building is holy, so it didn’t matter how they acted all the other days, as long as they were in there lighting their incense burners, and reading scripture, following their traditional rituals and stuff on the Sabbath, then they were good to go, because that’s all that mattered! (Jeremiah 8:8-9) Sound familiar?

Religion Didn’t Die - It Just Changed Clothes

Well, now let’s think about it a little bit today. We look back and say, “How could Israel do that? What fools!”

But wait just a second, we’re actually now doing the exact same thing!

How you may ask? Joe you’re a fool! “We are way better than them folks back then, we wouldn’t never worship a golden calf, we just follow scripture!”

Hummmm….well let’s see…

Today, “Churches” can’t associate with each other because of different rules and denominations, when the Bible says the church is only One body, that’s Jesus Christ body (1 Corinthians 12:12–27; Ephesians 4:4–6).

Folks point fingers, saying, “We’re more righteous than them.” Well, That’s exactly what Judah did to Samaria.

If your group makes its own rules and standards, thinks they are more important than others, and then looks down on others who do things a little differently, then you’re doing the same thing. That’s right folks, I hear steal toes bending and some toes are getting smushed!

The truth is when you do this, you are prostituting yourself to religion instead of giving yourself fully to Jesus. It don’t get much more straight forward then that, Jesus was straight with everyone, why shouldn’t we be?

Jesus said, “Narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14).

James said, “Even the demons believe, and shudder!” (James 2:19).

It’s not enough to believe in and about Jesus, you’ve got to know Him. If you put anything before Him, you’ve made an idol. If you add anything to what Jesus did on the cross, you’re saying His sacrifice wasn’t enough. And that, my friend, is a terrifying place to be (Galatians 2:21; Hebrews 10:26–31).

It’s so easy to see once God opens your eyes. That’s why I always say, “Pray for the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth.” Just like Jesus has promised.

The Relationship

It’s so simple folks, from the freaking beginning, God wanted a marriage-style covenant, a relationship, not a religion.

Our marriages here on earth are between a biological man and a woman, that’s it. They are meant to reflect that amazing and divine covenant between Christ and His Bride, His Church (Ephesians 5:25–32).

A marriage isn’t a state license, please folks, understand this, for heaven sake!

It’s a covenant between a born-again man and a born-again woman before God.

It’s just so amazing that our salvation is a covenant between us and Jesus, and Jesus doesn’t break His covenants, He won’t divorce us when we say the wrong thing or not dress properly, or don’t follow a old ritual that someone made up, He will always be with us and promises that His spirit will guide us into all truth, this is between You, and your Savior, not between you and a pastor, denomination, or government paper.

Just you and your Savior, Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of all lords! The first and the last, the freaking Great I Am!!!!

How do you get better than that?

Spoiler alert……You can’t!

If you try to make it better, try adding “extra steps” or “church rules” rituals or traditions, to make yourself more righteous, then literally in Gods eyes, your cheating on Jesus.

Don’t believe me? Well then let’s make it personal, just like God did very plainly in Ezekiel.

Bare with me here for a second, Imagine your beloved spouse who loves you with everything they have, your best friend and soul mate, who would do anything and everything for you because they want the best for you, and they love you with all their might!

Imagine them finding out you weren’t satisfied with them alone…And you just had to find “someone else on the side.”

Well, That’s what religion does to Jesus, it tells Him He’s not enough, It tells Him He died in vain! Can you imagine?

The Word was with God and the Word was God, but God loved us so much He sent His only Son in human form, took on our pitiful earthly body, to be tempted and be treated like a low down sinner, full of pain and sorrow, He didn’t even have a place to lay His head, But He tried to bring back His lost bride, the love of His life, instead she spit on Him mocked Him, laughed at Him, betrayed Him, then had Him beaten, whipped, tortured, then hung on a cross, bleeding and alone, then with His last breath He forgave her once again, but with the power of God He rose again on the third day, making away for all of us to be joined with Him as a bride to her husband, He still has the scars, He’s body is still so messed up His back looked like a plowed field, Isiah says He was marred beyond recognition, but He went through all of that for us, just to make His bride pure in Gods sight, and all He asks in return is for us to follow Him, and take the free gift He is holding with outstretched arms, and maybe just maybe this time no more straying away, no more looking for other lovers, no more idols, just a personal relationship with Jesus Christ! Because we know, what He did was and is enough!

Let’s be clear here folks, God takes betrayal very seriously. He said through Jeremiah: “As a wife treacherously leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to Me.” (Jeremiah 3:20)

Ezekiel and Hosea both showed that God’s people didn’t just cheat on God once, they actually did it over and over again, then they had the balls to brag about it and celebrate it (Ezekiel 16:15–19; Hosea 2:5–13).

Let’s go back to a personal level again, this would be like throwing a birthday party for your side piece on your wedding anniversary, at your spouse’s house, and saying you’re doing it to honor them, and even using their name on the cake. All while making out with your other lover in front of them, while saying you love your spouse and you’re doing this for them.

I know some folks will be like, “that’s not even close, that’s blasphemy”

Well, folks told Jesus that, so really I’m fine with it.

But actually, that’s exactly what Israel did using God’s name while worshiping idols they made or stole from foreigners, not to mention the idols they stole from nations they conquered. How much sense does that make?

What’s crazy is Jesus straight up told the religious leaders they were worse than Sodom, Gomorrah, and even Samaria (Matthew 11:23–24; Ezekiel 16:48–50).

You think that’s rough. But it shows just how serious God takes unfaithfulness. No matter how hard you try to ignore it, It just keeps showing up.

Out of the ten lepers Jesus healed, only one came back to thank Him.

And wouldn’t you know it, yep, he was a Samaritan. Where were the other nine?

Yeah… Jesus asked the same question.

It ain’t complicated folks, It’s just all about the freaking heart.

Why the Samaritan Was the Hero

Here’s the thing and it hit me like a ton of bricks once I finally saw it, Jesus didn’t just randomly pick a Samaritan to be the hero of that story. God had already told Israel this was coming.

Back in Ezekiel 16, God told Jerusalem that Samaria and Sodom, the very people they despised, would be counted with them, not because Samaria was righteous, but because Jerusalem was proud. God said He was going to humble His people so badly that the ones they looked down on would put them to shame.

And then centuries later, Jesus does the exact same thing.

The priest walks by.

The Levite walks by.

The holy elite wouldn’t think about stooping down to help a “sinner”

And just like that, The religious system fails… again!

The poor Samaritan, the outcast, the half-breed, the “wrong mountain worshiper” is the only one who actually loves his neighbor and what God says.

That wasn’t an accident folks. That wasn’t just a moral lesson Jesus taught.

That was Jesus holding up a mirror to the religious elite and saying:

“You’re still doing the same thing.”

“You still think being close to holy things makes you holy.”

“You still think labels matter more than love.”

“You still think you’re better than the people you despise.”

But just like the Bible says over and over again, It’s all about the freaking heart!

We think of people as wicked when they are murders, or rapeist, or maybe rich swindlers and sexual predators, but what I think is very interesting is that the Bible defines wickedness as saying you are following Jesus while you are walking in the opposite direction. Having His name on your lips, but not in your heart.

Back in the kings of Israel, the Bible defined some of the wicked kings as (not following God with all their hearts).

It really puts into perspective what God sees. We are not better than a murder, we are no better than a sex offender. The only reason we are called righteous instead of wicked is because of Jesus, washing us white as snow to present to the Father. We are all the same in Gods eyes as sinners before we ask Jesus to cleanse us. Then once He does then we are the same in Gods eyes as washed and ready bride of Christ through the spotless blood of Jesus, as His Body, His Church.

Jews and Samaritans, male and female, rich or poor, it doesn’t matter. If we murder someone, or just say that we love God and don’t, It’s still sin, and all sin requires a Savior!

Really folks, The only thing that matters is our heart! God looks at the heart, and we should too, that’s what Jesus sermon on the mount was all about!

(2 Chronicles 12:14, Isaiah 29:13, Ezekiel 33:31, Jeremiah 12: 1-3, Matthew 5-8, 15:8-9, Romans 3:23, Galatians 3:28)

It Was Always About the Heart

So here is the big question, Why on this earth would you trade the perfect marriage the kind that offers eternal life, love, and forgiveness with the greatest amazing spouse you could imagine, just for a cheap fling with religion?

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Jesus is the only way, no if, ands, or buts!

Jesus didn’t tell the story of the Good Samaritan to make some heart warming sermon on the Sabbath, He actually told the story to connect all the dots, and to show us how we should live and love like Jesus being a Good Samaritan to even our enemies, that’s the essence of following Jesus, to love your neighbor as yourself.

From the beginning to the end, God always stays the same, scripture says that over and over again, and when Jesus came down He again, said the same dang thing!

“Love others as I have loved you!, Love your enemies, also love those who you think are beneath you and not worthy of being loved”

It’s not about how much you give or how often you tithe, or how many times you have perfect attendance, what prayer you said, what denomination your parents raised you in, or what “church” you go to now, it’s all about your freaking heart!

If you truly love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, you’ll love your neighbor too (Mark 12:30–31).

It’s just that simple folks, you can’t make it more plain than that. So stop clinging to man-made rituals, rules, and self-made religion, “church” standards, or good meaning ordnances, or 12 step guides to live by. Just start following Jesus, personally, you and Him all the time, day by day.

I can’t help but get fired up reading His word and understanding this stuff, because God’s love and jealousy for His people is so powerful, and it really makes you understand what kind of a relationship He wants with us, and that’s just amazing to me.

What’s crazy is The Good Samaritan didn’t just help his neighbor, he didn’t just go help a friend, he didn’t just go help someone in need, he actually helped someone that despised him, and if this Jewish man was healthy and in his right mind, he probably would not even speak to the Samaritan, and I’m sure he would have refused help from him, but yet, the Samaritan helped him anyways and took care of him, just like Jesus would do, and that’s how we should live our lives everyday.

I know I rambled on for a while, But I hope by now you have gotten the point, and I’m sure your coffee is getting low and maybe a little cold, so I’ll leave you here with this:

People may not like hearing the truth, but I’m sorry, my Jesus said: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

You can’t be set free unless you hear and understand and except and then live out the truth.

So don’t take my word for it, don’t take no King Ding-a-lings word for it. Just take God’s Word for it.

Read your Bible from Genesis to Revelation. When you finish Revelation, start over again.

Read it with your heart open and your mind unlocked, and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth (John 16:13).

Until next time, and from now on, May the good Lord bless you everyday as you strive to live & love like Jesus, and treat your neighbor and enemies with kindness and love, just like a Good Samaritan.

~ Joe Lester ~

Note: Always remember to read your whole bible from Genesis - Revelation, not just the verses I laid out here, and please do not take my word for any of this, the last thing we need is “The Joe Lester religion” but please don’t take any man or woman’s word for it, instead take the Word of God, Jesus words without prejudice and surrender your all to HIM!

Ann Lester