Lying in the Ditch: What the Good Samaritan Teaches Us About Giving and Receiving Love

The Parable of the Man Who Fell Among Robbers, better known as the Good Samaritan, is one of the all-time great stories. When rabbis and Bible scholars speak about "turning the diamond," this is one story we can turn over and over, seeing something new from every angle. That's why it has stood the test of time and still changes hearts and minds today.

So let's look at this story from a few different angles. We can learn about receiving help from a would-be villain, about seeing the dignity and value in our fellow human, and about serving others through being a good business owner, among much more.

No Help Wanted

This story gets us thinking about how we can be a good neighbor to others by having compassion and showing mercy. Obviously. But stories like this invite us to assume different roles and relate to different characters. Along the way, we will inevitably end up as the man in the ditch. We will be the one in need. We will be the one at the end of our rope, clinging to life, struggling to survive.

The question in that moment is: Who are you willing to accept help from?

I've heard stories of a family stranded on the roadside with a broken-down car. A burly, tattooed, bearded biker pulls up behind them. They feel nervous and suspicious at first. But the man turns out to be the friendliest, most helpful stranger they had ever met.

On the reverse side, I've heard of a white man who lost his mind when the EMTs showed up to help him and one of them was African American. He would have rather died than accept help from someone of a different race.

If you're the person in the ditch, is there someone who could show up who you wouldn't accept help from? How you answer that question reveals a lot about your heart. And I think far too many of us would rather lie in the ditch pretending everything is okay than ask for or receive help from others.

It's not selfish or weak to ask for help. Sometimes it's actually selfish not to ask. If someone has the desire, passion, and skills to help us, and we never let them, we are denying them the opportunity to use their gifts to glorify God and build up the body.

Don't let your pride keep you in the ditch.

Seeing God in Our Enemies

Jesus saw people. I mean, he really saw them. He didn't just notice them and look away like we might. He took the time to truly see others.

We all want to be seen. In the story, the priest and the Levite both noticed the injured man, but they didn't really see him as someone worth stopping for. The Samaritan was the only one who saw him and took action.

Earlier in Luke 7, there's a story of a "sinful woman" who crashed a banquet at the home of a Pharisee. She wet Jesus' feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, anointed them with oil, and kissed his feet. At one point in the conversation, while defending her actions, Jesus asked, "Do you see this woman?" Of course the Pharisee saw her. But Jesus was trying to get him to really see her, to view her as the precious daughter of God she was, full of dignity and worthy of love and respect.

The opening page of the Bible tells us we are all created in the image of God. We spend our whole lives asking, "Do you see me? Do I matter?" One psychologist put it this way: "We are all brought into this world looking for someone looking for us."

What Jesus did, and what he was trying to get his followers to do, was to see everyone for who they truly are. The Samaritan in the story saw the injured man not as an enemy but as a fellow human being, a fellow child of God, in desperate need of help. He saw a neighbor, created in the image of God, worthy of help, worthy of care, worthy of love.

It's one thing to see the image of God in your brother or sister. Jesus is trying to get us to see the face of God in our enemy, too.

The Unsung Hero

Sometimes in these stories a nameless side character plays a bigger role than we might notice at first. Think of the servant in Luke 15 who goes out to the older brother to explain that his younger brother had returned and his father was throwing a party.

Here in this parable, there's another side character who hasn't gotten any of the spotlight: the innkeeper. What must he have thought when a Samaritan walked in carrying a beaten-up Jewish man? That's not a sight you see every day. He was probably used to seeing Jews and Samaritans arguing and fighting, not caring for each other and pulling one another back from death's door.

I know it's just a story, but these parables are rooted in reality. An innkeeper like this would have been doing business for many years, providing essential services to weary travelers day in and day out.

Around Lawrence County, we have many such people and organizations. I am grateful for those who run the Men's Warming Shelter, the food pantries, the meal services, laundry and cleaning services, hospitals, clinics, women's shelters, and various other charitable organizations.

But it doesn't even have to be that. Our world needs faithful, trustworthy business owners who provide quality service at reasonable prices. The innkeeper wasn't running a charity. The Samaritan paid for services rendered and offered to cover any remaining charges the man incurred. But the innkeeper was willing. He didn't turn the Samaritan or the injured man away.

How can you better emulate the innkeeper through your vocation? How can you use your job to serve people and meet the needs of your community?

We All Need a Savior

Jesus tells this story to show us what love looks like in action. The Samaritan was taking a real risk by helping this man. They were enemies, after all.

But isn't that the point? Love is risky. Real love makes sacrifices, not just for our "neighbors" but also for our "enemies." As I always say, Jesus never asks us to do something he has not already done.

Jesus is the Samaritan in the story.

Paul reminds us in Romans 5:6-8, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person, though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

We were the helpless traveler in the ditch. Jesus was the one who put his own life on the line to help us, while we were still considered his enemies. As he was being nailed to the cross, he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." Just as the Samaritan paid for the care of the injured man, Jesus paid our debt in full, buying our freedom and securing our new life, free of charge.

1 John 4:11 says, "Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another."

In other words, go and do likewise.