“And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: 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” (Luke 10:31-34)
The parable of the Good Samaritan does not merely reveal the goodness of the Good Samaritan but mainly focuses on the omissions of “a certain priest” and “a Levite”. There are three players in this game. They are a certain priest, a Levite and a certain Samaritan. The priest and the Levite made a debut by chance whereas the Samaritan made a debut while on a journey. They came there only by chance because they had not wanted to go by that way where the wounded man was lying half dead. The Samaritan used to go by that way because he was always on his journey into the outside world. But the priest and the Levite confined themselves to the Temple and they went outside the Temple only occasionally. The priest and the Levite after seeing the wounded man “passed by on the other side” whereas the Samaritan after seeing the wounded man had compassion on the latter.
By chance the priest came down that way. The priest under the Old Covenant was the one who served God publicly in the temple of God. Melchizedek, king of Salem, is mentioned as the priest of the most high God (Gen.14:18). Christ was a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Ps.110:4 & Heb.5:6). The word “priest” is mentioned for the first time in the book of Genesis, Chapter 14:18. After the priest left, the Levite came that way. The word “Levite” is mentioned for the first time in the book of Exodus, Chapter 4:14 and is suffixed to Aaron. We can say that the Levitical priesthood came out of Aaron, the Levite whereas the eternal priesthood of Christ Jesus came out of Melchizedek.
The priest was supposed to represent the order of Melchizedek and the Levite the order of the Levitical priesthood of Aaron. These days, we find two categories of ministers of God. The ministers of the first category are those who claim themselves to have been anointed with the Holy Spirit or the disciples of Jesus Christ representing the priesthood of Christ Jesus whereas the ministers of the second category are those who perform the ceremonial duties of the Christian religion, representing the Levitical priesthood.
But both these groups fall in the same category in so far as the wounded man is concerned because both pass by on the other side. The priest and the Levite saw the wounded man but did not stay there to help him. They were busy with their ministries. They thought they should give first priority to God in their ministries. For them, that wounded man did not mean anything as they had set their hearts on their respective ministries in the temple of God. In the temple of God, multitudes might have been waiting for their services. They did not bother about a single man.
These days, many ministers of God are busy so with their ministries that they have no time to look at the wounded man lying by the roadside. That single man may be a person wounded by his/her spouse. That single man may be a person persecuted for his/her faith in Christ Jesus.
That single man may be a person stripped by dacoits in the society. Dacoits need not be only those who come with guns or swords to rob the physically weak people. Prophetically speaking, dacoits are those who wield such power or who are in positions of authority to suppress the physically weak in the societies. There are “spiritual dacoits” in Christendom. These spiritual dacoits wound the feelings and emotions of the spiritually weak. These spiritual dacoits strip the weak of their glory by exposing the past lives of the latter which have been covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ or by condemning the spiritually weak from pulpits. Similarly, there are “religious dacoits” who for the sake of their religions strip and wound new believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Who comes to the rescue of this wounded man? The priest and the Levite look at the wounded man. This means they have knowledge of what is happening in the Christendom. They know how the weak are condemned and oppressed by the strong. They know how a married person is divorced by his/her spouse by way of false witnesses through the court of law. They know how new believers are oppressed and persecuted for their newly found faith by their parents or by others in their societies. But the priest and the Levite do not want to lift their fingers against these oppressors. Neither do they want to bind the wounds of these wounded persons who are individuals. They just pass on the other side. The other side is a place where they are praised and honored. The other side is a place where they get offerings in lieu of their services from the multitudes that throng to hear them. But on the side of the wounded man, they have to spend their precious money and time like the Good Samaritan. And they have to bear the reproach of Christ.
The priest and the Levite prefer to work in the Temple of God so that they are compensated for their services by the tithes and offerings whereas the Good Samaritan prefers to work by the roadside without expecting any reward from the wounded man.
Both the priest and the Levite always prefer to pass on the other side. Today there are many Christians likened to the wounded man who need to be ministered to individually either in their marriage lives or in their spiritual lives. Similarly, there are many young believers wounded by the religious dacoits in their societies and they need to be encouraged individually in the face of the stiff opposition they face from these dacoits. Will you come forward like the Good Samaritan to minister to the wounded man in the Body of Christ? Jesus did care for the individuals and ministered to them.
Parable of the rich man and Lazarus
Let us meditate on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus spoken by our Lord in Luke 16:19-31.
This parable starts with the words “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day”. The Bible does not say that this rich man was a sinner or coveted the money of others. Nor does it portray him as a thief who steals the money of others. He was clothed in purple and fine linen. There is nothing wrong in someone who clothes himself or herself in purple and fine linen. During the New Testament days, there were kings and rulers who had clothed themselves in purple and fine linens. The rich man fared sumptuously every day. Similarly, there is nothing wrong in someone who fares sumptuously every day so long as he or she works with his/her own hands and earns a living without coveting the possession of others. A man or a woman cannot be sent to the hell just because he or she fared sumptuously every day.
The rich man did not commit any act worth banishing him to the hell. Then what was wrong with him?
There was a certain beggar named Lazarus who was laid at his gate, full of sores. Certainly, the rich man was not at fault for the beggar full of sores being brought to his gate and laid thereon. If the rich man had not committed any acts that warranted him to be sent to the hell, he would have certainly committed some acts of omission.
When the rich man ate, the beggar only desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. The Bible says that he had five brethren. This shows that he was unmarried. He would have enjoyed his material life with his five brethren in his bungalow. Though he noticed the beggar at his gate, he did not bother to share his food with the beggar. The beggar was laid at his gate by others who thought that the rich man could feed the beggar at the gate. Secondly, the rich man did not dress the sores of the beggar. The beggar was hungry and suffered in pain. Though the rich man saw the dogs lick his sores, he did not come forward to bind the wounds of the beggar.
God did not want the rich man to go out in search of a beggar with sores for service. But, God did want the rich man to minister to the beggar who was laid at his gate.
Today, many rich people including evangelists and pastors who have been materially blessed by God see the poor Lazarus lying at their gates. The poor people like Lazarus are within the reach of these rich people. If they do not minister to the poor saints or to the poor people in their vicinities, they may find themselves in the hell fire.
I know personally a dear woman of God in Delhi, who is a senior government officer of the Indian Customs and Central Excise Service, who had accepted Jesus Christ when she was a Hindu Brahmin. She happened to see a leper on her way to the office. She began to minister to him by giving him food, etc. Then she arranged with a charitable organization of Mother Teresa for shifting the leper to one of their homes. Today the leper is leading a decent life there. She is like the Good Samaritan who not only dressed the wounds of the man wounded by the dacoits but also took him on his own beast, brought him to an inn and then made provisions for his future (Luke 10:34-35). The priest and the Levite passed by on the other side. Today also, the ministers of God who have been materially blessed by God pass by on the other side. God will not judge their ministries by the number of meetings held by them or by the number of books written by them but by the number of individuals ministered to by them through their own hands. By preaching the gospel or by working miracles and wonders in His Name, the minister of God concerned does not serve God but merely obeys the great commission of Jesus Christ. Nobody can claim to serve God if he or she does not clothe the naked or minister to the sick or feed the hungry or minister to the stranger
“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” (Mat.25:42-46).
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