On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Luke 10:25-29

This story takes place as Jesus is on the road with his disciples, headed toward calvary. Jesus knows that his time on earth is short. So he spends the majority of his time teaching his disciples how they are to live in his absence. And this section of Luke, roughly chapters 10-19 is often called The Gospel of the Outcast.

In this section, we find story after story and teaching after teaching where Jesus both demonstrates and demands that his disciples are to seek out and help the outcasts of society. And Luke, the author of this gospel, very intentionally begins this section with the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Here’s how it went. As Jesus is walking along the road to Jerusalem with his disciples, almost out of nowhere, he is approached by what the ESV translation calls a “lawyer.” Now in Jesus’ day, Jewish lawyers were not courtroom prosecutors. They were scholars of the mosaic law. They knew absolutely everything about the Jewish Bible. They even had it memorized. The Net Bible more helpfully calls him an “expert in religious law.” In short, this was the guy who was supposed to have all the answers.

And Luke tells us that he is coming to “test” Jesus. He is not coming to learn from Jesus. He is coming to school Jesus. To put him in his place. He is coming to expose Jesus as a fraud, as someone who breaks the Sabbath and fails to live out the Mosaic law. And he does this by asking Jesus a hotly debated question by ancient Jewish scholars, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” This is not a genuine question. He is not seeking truth. He is playing games.

But Jesus doesn’t play his game. And he turns the question right back to the expert. Notice how Jesus brilliantly entices the man to answer his own question simply by asking him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” Jesus knew that this man would be quick to give others his opinion. And he ends up answering the very question he sought to trap Jesus with. He answers by saying, “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 neighbour as yourself.”

One of the great surprises of this passage is that Jesus adds nothing to the man’s answer. In fact, Jesus himself gives the same answer in various places throughout the Gospels – eternal life is found in loving God because he first loved us and sacrificially loving our neighbour to the same degree you love yourself. Jesus simply affirms the man’s response and tells him to go live it out.

At this point, the law experts’ plan has failed and he knows it.

The deep irony of the text is that the law expert came to expose Jesus, but now he is the one who stands exposed. In six words, “do this, and you will live” Jesus has exposed that it is not he who fails to uphold the law, it is the lawyer. The lawyer came to talk out the law, Jesus came to walk out the law.

By all accounts, the exchange should have been over. The final score: expert 0, Jesus 1. Jesus has affirmed the man’s answer and sent him away to obey it. But the expert is determined to win the exchange. So he asks for a “rematch” and starts another game with Jesus. But this time, he seems to be playing by different rules. In verse 25, we are told he wanted to “test” Jesus. But now, in verse 29, we are told he is “desiring to justify himself.” And he does this by asking a simple question, “who is my neighbour?”

At this point, we need to ask, “how is the lawyer seeking to justify himself by using the question ‘who is my neighbour?’” The Message rightly interprets this passage by translating this verse to say, “looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbour’?””

The Lawyer is looking for a loophole. He is trying to minimize the scope of whom he needs to love.

All throughout the Gospels, Jesus taught his followers that the most fundamental aspect of being a Christian is to love God and love neighbour. These are the two most basic and necessary ingredients for following God.

Loving your neighbour in the same way that God has loved you, is a non-negotiable for Jesus.

The Rabbi’s of Jesus’ day knew the great difficulty of this command. So they narrowed the scope of who their neighbour was to exclude anyone they didn’t like. Jesus pointed this out in Matthew 5:43 ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ The Rabbis gave people permission to hate their enemies. And this lawyer is hopeful that Jesus will uphold the same interpretation.

Let’s continue in our story to see how Jesus responds.

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Luke 10:30-32

Jesus answers the question of “who is my neighbour” with a parable. The parable is of a Jewish man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho is 17 miles of mountainous terrain. It was known as a dangerous road to travel because there were many caves and boulders along the trail for robbers and thieves to hide in. This allowed them to ambush their victims easily. Jesus tells a parable of such an event happening to a Jewish traveller. In Jesus’ story, the traveller is attacked, robbed, stripped, and left for dead. In fact, he is so badly beaten that he is in critical condition. If no one intervenes, if no one stops to help, this man will die.

As Jesus tells the story he gives the listener two significant glimmers of hope. It just so happens that two Jewish travellers are going to pass by the man in need of help. This is great news! And the first traveller is not only a fellow brother in the faith, he is a priest. He is one appointed by God to care for his people. Better yet, he knows the Scriptures. He knows the words of…

Proverbs 21:13: “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.” 

Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” 

And he certainly knew Leviticus 19:18:“You shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord.” 

As the priest approaches, he sees the bloodied and half-dead man. This is it, surely this man of God will help!

But to the hearer’s great surprise, when the priest “saw him he passed by on the other side.” He knew that God had called him to act justly, yet he did nothing. And not only did he do nothing, he moved away from the suffering. He put distance between his life and the life of this man in need. The priest saw this man suffering and he looked the other way.

And the questions each listener is left with is “how could he be so heartless? How could he be so selfish? How could he be so hypocritical?” This man, this fellow Jew, this priest, who claims to serve God sees a brother completely helpless and walks on. How!? And as the story unfolds it is not only the priest who does nothing but a Levite as well! Someone who works at the temple. Someone who maintains the house of God so people can be made whole. He too sees the suffering man and looks the other way.

And the Bible doesn’t tell us why either of these men did nothing. Maybe it’s because they didn’t want to defile themselves and be temporarily excluded from the community? Maybe they were in a hurry; too busy with the affairs of their own life to stop and care for the man’s needs? Or maybe they were just scared? Fearful that if they stopped to help, they too would be attacked.

The only real answer is that we don’t know why they both didn’t stop. The Bible doesn’t tell us. All we do know is that “they saw” and they “passed by.”

Before we pick up stones to throw at the priest and Levite for turning away from a suffering neighbour, I wonder if we should stop and ask the Spirit if there is a little bit of the priest and the Levite in us?

I wonder if Luke has intentionally left out the ‘why’ behind their indifference to this man’s suffering so that you and I can explore the ‘why’ of the indifference in our own hearts?

As I have prayed through this passage, I have certainly identified a bit of the Priest and Levite in myself. I think this text is included in the canon of Scripture to invite you and I to repent. Not because God is mad or disappointed in us. Not so we can earn more of his favour and love. But rather, because Christians have the privilege of bearing the name of Jesus. Followers of Jesus are called to show the world what Jesus is like.

And the church has a rich history of moving toward those who are suffering. In the first century, Roman law protected the practice of infanticide, which at the time was called “infant exposure.” If a child had disabilities, or was not the preferred gender of the day, the parents could abandon them outside to die. It was the church that first started rescuing these children by wandering the streets at night, listening for the cries of abandoned children. 

Early Christians sought out vulnerable children, rescued them from death, and raised them a part of their family.

This is our legacy! And we have the same opportunity today to slow down and listen for the cries of those around us who are suffering. Every day children and youth enter the foster care system due to abuse or neglect. And everyday, foster care organisations struggle to find homes for these amazing children. In fact, more children are entering into care than there are homes available to care for them. In some cases children are sent to other regions because not enough local families are stepping forward to care for them.

Children and youth in foster care are desperate for someone to meet their needs, instead of looking the other way.

The good news of this parable is that someone does stop to help this man. 

But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii^[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:33-37

The actions of the Priest and Levite are directly contrasted with the action of the Samaritan. They represent two different responses to suffering.

The first is a response of indifference. The second is a response of compassion.

Samaritans and Jews were enemies. They hated each other. Jesus’ parable of a righteous, law- abiding Samaritan would have been wildly offensive to his Jewish audience. Tim Keller writes in his book Generous Justice that, “by depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need – regardless of race, politics, class and religion- is your neighbour.”

When the lawyer asked Jesus “who is my neighbour?” He was hoping that Jesus would let him off the hook for needing to love his enemies. Instead, Jesus tells the lawyer a story to flips the question on its head.

The parable of the good Samaritan invites the lawyer to consider what type of neighbour he would want if he was the one half-dead on the side of the road. In essence, Jesus presents him with a better question. The question of ‘whose neighbour am I?’ The question of ‘who needs my help?’

Let’s look at four ways that the Samaritan’s actions give us a picture of what it is like to care for kids in the foster care system.

1. Unlike the priest and Levite, he saw the man and had compassion.

When you and I see people in need, our hearts will make an immediate judgment about that person. That judgment may be positive or negative. It may be right or wrong. But when we see someone in need, our brains are wired to make an assumption about how they ended up in a rough spot. We think things like:

• “I bet they made bad decisions to end up here.”
• “I bet they didn’t work hard enough.”
• “I bet they are dangerous.”
• “The real problem is that they use drugs.”
• “I would be wasting my time if I tried to help them.”

The first and greatest obstacle to showing mercy is making a judgment about why people are suffering. We need to retrain our hearts to withhold judgment. We truly have no idea about how someone got to where they are until we have listened to their story and considered it with empathy. Nearly every father or mother who has neglected or abused their children was at one point neglected and abused themselves. The cycle of generational abuse and neglect is strong and the only way to break it is by men and women of faith coming alongside broken families who believe that God can restore them back to health. Foster care is about reuniting mother and child, father and son.

The gospel is not only powerful enough to set the lonely in families, it is powerful enough to restore a broken family back to health.

2. He gave his own resources to help.

The Samaritan generously poured out his own oil (needed for cooking) and his own wine (needed for hydration) to help the man. Additionally, he set the man on his own donkey to transport him to safety and paid the innkeeper two months worth of rent to make sure the beaten man had time to recover fully.

What has God given you that you can share with children and young people in foster care?

• Do you have time? Volunteer with The Homeward Project, in your church, or with a child and family services organisation.
• Do you have money? Become a financial partner and help us find homes for kids in care.
• Do you have encouragement? Provide support for a fostering family or create a wrap-around team for them.
• Do you have love to give? Pray about becoming a Foster Carer.

The Samaritan graciously poured out all he had for the sake of this suffering man. And Jesus is calling us to do the same.

3. He bound up his wounds.

Children and young people in foster care have been wounded. Sometimes those wounds are physical, but always those wounds are their trauma. For this reason, it is vital that the church be a safe space where children can heal.

Attachment psychologists tell us that babies and young children are always internally asking two life-shaping questions: “Am I safe?” and “Am I loved?” It is the case with all kids in care that at some point in their life the answer to both these questions was “no.”

When children and youth in foster care join our church, we have the privilege of showing them over and over that they are safe and loved. Don’t leave room for doubt in the mind of a child that they are desperately wanted and deeply loved! Affirm to them over and over through our emotions, words and actions, “you are loved!” and “you are safe!”

4. He was present with the man in suffering.

The Good Samaritan not only guided the wounded traveller to the inn, he also stayed overnight as he regained consciousness. Then before he left, he told the innkeeper he would return to pay for any additional expenses and make sure the man was healthy and back on his feet.

One of the greatest gifts we can give people who are suffering is our presence.

Even if we don’t know what to say, we can speak volumes by sitting with people in their pain.

I want to leave you with this simple yet powerful question:

What small steps is Jesus calling you to take to become the type of person your neighbours need?

God has called us to a vocation of compassion. Through this parable, Jesus has shown us that the default of the human heart is to see and pass by. But Jesus has called us to see and to draw near. There are people all around us who need the love of Christ. The only question is are we willing to slow down and care for them the way Christ has cared for us?

Because ultimately, Jesus is the greatest Good Samaritan. The Bible says that while you and I were enemies of God, Christ died for us! We were the ones not only half-dead on the side of a road, but completely dead in our sin and godlessness when Jesus showed us grace and raised our spiritual life with Christ! Let us strive to show this same love to our neighbours in need.

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This post is based on a sermon by Ryan MacDonald, provided by our friends from Foster The City, who are equipping churches to provide loving homes for children in foster care in California and beyond.

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The Homeward Project exists to partner with churches in the space of discipleship and mission, providing ideas, connections and practical tools to engage in a holistic ministry of Out-of-Home Care. We’d love to partner with your church. Find out more at the link below or get in touch at hello@homewardproject.org