This study is based on Luke 10:25-37, “25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 — He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 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. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”

1. Why did Jesus tell this parable? Who was it that came to Jesus initially and what did he ask? Understanding the background is important.

• Luke 10:25
  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
• A lawyer came to Jesus and asked about how he could inherit eternal life.
• The lawyer is one pertaining to the Mosaic or ceremonial law.

2. What was the answer to the question?

• Luke 10:26-28
  26 — He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
• Jesus pointed the lawyer to the 10 commandments.
• And he replies by stating that the law tells us to love God and love our neighbour. And Jesus absolutely agrees with him and replies by saying – if you do that, you will live!

3. But what does the lawyer reply?

• Who is my neighbour?
• Notice that the Bible says that he was wanting to justify himself by asking this question. Meaning he was thinking that he was fulfilling the 10 commandments, so that’s why he asked that.
• Remember, he was the teacher of the law. So he was probably feeling self satisfied that he was ready for eternal life. He should be the expert in loving God and loving others.

4. So with that background, let’s look at the parable. Who are the characters in the parable?

• Good Samaritan
• Priest
• Levite
• Traveler
• Thieves
• Innkeeper

5. What happened to the traveler?

• He was attacked by the thieves, stripped of his garment, wounded, half dead.
• Who does it represent? It represents us. Sinners – yes. But all have sinned. So it represents all those living on the earth.

6. Who was the first person to come to him?

• Luke 10:31
  And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
• A priest came first and saw him and quickly passed to the other side and kept going.
• Who was next?
• Luke 10:32
  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
• A Levite came. The Bible says he came and looked on him. He didn’t just see him from afar. He probably came up close to have a look at him. And he quickly kept going.

7. What is the difference between the priest and the Levite?

• Priest works in the sanctuary. He assists in the sacrifices and goes into the sanctuary with the blood, etc.
• How about the Levite? The Levite is the only tribe that can be a priest. But they aren’t all priests. Some of the Levites only take care of the tent, or the fence, or the furniture. And a subset of that are priests.
• Only Levites can be priests, but not all Levites are priests.
• The two people that passed by the person that was hurt, BOTH were leaders in the church. Remember, who is the lawyer? Teacher of the law. He is also in the church.
• The priest and levite didn’t just pass by. They passed by on the other side. The Priest saw and passed by. The Levite actually stopped, looked, and passed by.
• All of them work in the church.
• It was a rebuke to the lawyer as well.

8. Remember, what does the lawyer want to know again? 

• How to have eternal life.
• Jesus is indirectly saying to the lawyer that he is not that close to eternal life. He isn’t a priest or a levite, but he is still a worker in the church.

9. Who does the Good Samaritan represent? What did he do?

• Luke 10:33-35
  33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 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. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
• Jesus.
• He showed compassion.
• Mark 1:40
  And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
• First thing that happens to Jesus is He is moved with compassion.
• He is not waiting to strike us down with His wrath or anger. Jesus is moved with the feelings of our infirmities. That good Samaritan represents Jesus.

10. What did the Samaritan do next? 

• Then he binds up with wounds, pouring in oil and wine.
• Why wine and oil?
• The wine is an antiseptic to wash away all the dirt and to clean the wound.
• The oil is to preserve it so it doesn’t get worse.
• They are actual natural remedies to help the person who was wounded.

11. What does wine represent in the Bible?

• 1 John 1:7
  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
• The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. The blood is for cleansing.
• We represent the person that was hurt and about to die. But Jesus comes along, and makes us clean. Cleanses us from sin. That is called justification.
• Just because you are clean, it’s not enough. You need the oil. That’s to preserve. It’s not enough to be clean. It’s important to stay clean (many people say sorry and do it again. Nobody wants that kind of friend)
• This is why we need the oil.
• But the oil is not helpful if the wine has not washed away all the dirt first. Otherwise you are just preserving all the dirt in the wound and will make it worse.
• We must be cleansed from sin first.

12. What does oil represent?

• Zechariah 4:3-6
  3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
• The Holy Spirit.
• We need the Holy Spirit to help us to be preserved from sin (cleansed experience to be maintained) and also to change.

13. What happens after the good Samaritan bandages the man up?

• Luke 10:34
  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.
• After he is washed and bandaged, he brought him to the inn and asked the innkeeper to take care of him.
• Who is the innkeeper?
• The work was passed on to him.
• Luke 10:35
  And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
• The innkeeper was given 2 pence (2 days wage). And whatever is spent that is extra, the good Samaritan promised that when he comes back he would repay.
• To fully understand who the innkeeper is we need to understand the significance of the 2 pence.

14. What is represented by the 2 pence then?

• It was a deposit to the innkeeper as a promise that he would come back.
• What deposit has Jesus given to us as a promise that He would return?
• Ephesians 1:13-14
  13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
• “Earnest” means down payment.
• What is the downpayment (earnest) of our inheritance?
• It is the Holy Spirit.

15. When did Jesus give the Holy Spirit to us to help with the work?

• Acts 2
• The day of Pentecost. The outpouring of the latter rain in the form of the Holy Spirit.
• So who does the innkeeper represent? He represents the true disciples of Jesus. Those that are involved in doing the work of the ministry.

16. So then who is our neighbour? What was the lawyer’s response?

• He that shewed mercy.
• The Good Samaritan is everyone else (innkeeper and lawyer were paid).
• There are some things you do as work. There are other things you do because you are in the church. It’s called volunteer work. Pastors and bible workers are paid to do God’s work. But most of us are not working for the church.
• What do you give to God out of the freedom of your own heart that doesn’t come back to you? When was the last time we sacrificed for someone else?
• The Good Samaritan sacrificed for somebody he did not know. He got nothing in return. He helped just because he wanted to help. Not because he deserved it. Not because he could get anything in return. 
• When was the last time you helped someone with no hope of getting something in return. Helping someone you don’t know for the sake of the gospel.
• We sacrifice for work for our own personal gain. But if we sacrifice without expecting anything in return, that’s what the good Samaritan did.

17. How can we be a Good Samaritan? How can we love our neighbour?

• According to what Jesus said, we need to learn to love first. That is very much tied up with the keeping of the 10 commandments.
• Because Jesus is the only good example, if you don’t love him, everything in our heart is selfish.
• Unless we love God, we can never learn to be a good Samaritan.
• How can we know if we love God? It will overflow in our treatment and love towards our neighbour.