Helping Hands

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.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:30-37 ESV). The Parable of the Good Samaritan appears only in the Gospel of Luke and is one of the first parables we learn as children. A kind man, a foreigner, stopped to help an injured traveler at considerable risk to himself, after a priest, a symbol of God's righteousness and a Levite, his assistant failed to help. When Jesus told this story he used a Samaritan, despised for his ethnic and religious impurities, to make his point that goodness transcends even the most despised. Samaritans in a modern context are simply defined as strangers who help in times of need without expecting pay back, who perform their good works out of a love for their fellow humankind and their love of God. We read about such people almost daily in our newspapers, and hear about them on radio, and on television. In the aftermath of the attacks on our nation in September, we saw many “heroes” with their helping hands. Praise God these people exist. But when a crisis affects you personally, the meaning of God's love, the power of prayer, and the caring of good Samaritans takes on a new and stronger meaning. There have been many times in our lives as a family that we needed a helping hand or two. Each time people we hardly knew, or did not know at all came to offer their help and comfort. It was more help than we could express. It was a living example of Jesus’ parable. At the end of telling his parable to the man of letters, Jesus asks, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in law replied," The one who had mercy upon him". Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise" [Luke 10:36-37]. We are all called to be good Samaritans, and need to heed Jesus instructions to "Go and do likewise" Becoming people with helping hands is not something we do, as much as it is someone we are. Commit yourself to such a lifestyle today. Renew your desire to be helping hands to those the Lord places in your path today.