The Helping Enemy

Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.  He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'  Luke 10:30-35

When we read or hear the account of the Good Samaritan, we always see it from the perspective of the one doing the rescuing. We think about what it means to be a good neighbor to those whom we hate, dislike, or don’t get along with. Today I want you to think about what it meant to the Jewish man who was robbed, beaten and left for dead. As he lay there, his two countrymen passed him, but not just two common fellows, but two supposedly godly men. These were two men called of God to help those in need, a priest, and a Levite. Now their fellow Jew was racked with pain, almost dead, and they passed him by, how much more painful it was for him when those who were his own kindred left him for dead.

Now the Jewish man probably wondered how he would ever survive, he prayed to God to help him, to bring alongside him someone who would help him in his powerless. As he sees a priest come down the road he begins to have hope, this is apparently an answer to prayer. As the priest sees him, he goes out of his way to pass him on the other side of the road, to avoid dealing with him. The agony of his suffering grows worse and he begins to despair, but continues to cry out to God for help. A little later he sees another man coming down the road, and he begins to praise God for sending help, but to his astonishment, his fellow countryman does the same as the last one, and passing him by on the other side.

As his muscles tense up from the pain he could no longer bring his eyes to Heaven; he has given up, and begins to sob in despair. He then hears the sound of footsteps coming down the road. He looks up in hopes of rescue, but his facial expression moves to disgust. He has been beaten and left for dead by robbers, two of his countrymen have passed him by, and now a man comes down the road who he has been taught to hate his whole life; a man who has been taught also to hate the man who lies there half dead. As the Jewish man sees the Samaritan, he turns his face away, expecting some insult, or even an addition kick from him. His despair turns to hatred and resentment over him as he approaches. To his astonishment, the Samaritan doesn’t insult him, or even afflict more pain upon him, but has compassion on the hurt man. He doesn’t see a Jewish man he has been told to hate, or one who has hated him his whole life, or one who has insulted him before, but he sees a man in need, one who cannot help himself.

The Jewish man doesn’t know what to say, or what to think. Maybe he would have rather laid there to die, rather than be helped by his enemy. Even worse, he is in a position of powerlessness, and needing help by one he has hated. As the Samaritan bandages up his wounds, pours on oil and wine, the injured man is perplexed, maybe even resentful by the actions of his long hated enemy. As time passed, he is taken to an inn to be taken care of by the inn keeper. Right before the Samaritan is about to leave, the eyes of the two men meet, this time, not in anger, by one is grateful for the compassion of his enemy, while the other shows his love, rather than his learned hatred. While the Jewish man laid there hurting in his flesh, another pain in his heart flourished, the pain of humiliation. Humiliation in knowing he might not have done the same for the Samaritan, a pain which shows him that his enemy is a better man than he. As he lay there, wondering why he was helped by him who he would have insulted, ridiculed, or even done worse things too, he realizes that the Samaritan was more godly then those who he has known all his life, more than the priest, the Levite, and even himself.  Days later as he leaves the inn, limping, still in pain, he sees a Samaritan walking down the road, instead of looking at him with prideful disgust, he looks on him as another man, just like he was. The pain of the beating had taught him a valuable lesson in living out his faith. While he may never see the Good Samaritan to thanks him for saving his life, he did begin to understand what it means to love those even when they don’t love you. The man had suffered a beating and left for dead, but he also suffered a wound to his own pride that would never heal, but reminded him each day to love his enemy, even if that means to accept help from them.