Now let us look at the spiritual message of this parable. 
 

  THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN 

Luke 10:30-37; Theme: Salvation 

    Jesus spoke this parable to a lawyer who was testing Him,
and said “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 

 Jesus knowing man’s heart asked him;
“what is written in the law?  How readest thou?” 
The lawyer 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 neighbor as thyself.”  
Jesus said unto him;
“Thou hast answered right; this do and thou shall live.” 
 

   Of course if you can keep the law, and the Ten Commandments,
you can have eternal life, but who can do this? 
All mankind are sinners 
(Rom. 3:23; 7:14). 
  All are born sinners, and the law condemns us, 
for we are sinners as the law reveals this to us.
(Rom. 3:20). 
 

    It is obvious that this parable is about eternal life,
for the lawyer asked 
Jesus the question "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 
and Jesus said “do this and thou shall live." 
 But the lawyer willing (2309. Thelo; to will, wish, desire) or wanted,
to justify himself answered “and who is my neighbor." 
 The lawyer felt condemned, for he knew he could not keep the law,
and try to justify himself so he asked Jesus the question. 

    Thus, Jesus gave this Parable of the Good Samaritan. 
If we say that this is a literal interpretation,
then we are saying that to inherit eternal life is by being good to our neighbor. 
Eternal life is not obtained by doing good works else Jesus died in vain. 
 

   Another question we may ask is, Who must we be good to? 
Only to those that are half dead?  How much is half dead? 
Only to Those that were robbed by theives?  
Only those that were rejected by the Priest and Levites?  
And should we take him to the inn, 
and pay the owner some money and tell him to take care of him until we come back again? 

    Literal meaning cannot address each verse correctly,
and thus those that do this will avoid the rest of the parable. 
 
 

   Surely the parable that Jesus gave about the sower is not about farming. 
Jesus gave us a guideline, in spiritual understanding,
when he explained the Parable of the Sower to the disciples 
(Mat. 13:18-23). 
 

Lets look at the spiritual meaning of this parable. 

V.30: And Jesus, answering, said, 
"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, 
who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead." 
 

   This certain man represents Adam,
and the whole human race who fell among the thieves. 
He was in the Garden of Eden, a place of blessing.  
Jerusalem (peace) is a place of blessing and Jericho is a place of curse (Jos. 6:17).   Jerusalem is situated approximately 2500 feet above sea level,
and Jericho is approximately 800 feet below sea level, near the Dead Sea.  
Often times in Scriptures, when you see this phrase, went down, it has a connotation of departing from God. 
Abraham went down to Egypt, 
(Gen 12:10).  
Jonah went down to Joppa, when he tried to run away from God,
(Jonah 1:3). 
On the other hand, v.33 says,
the Good Samaritan journeyed, which means he had a purpose for going. 
 

   This certain man as he went, down fell among thieves.
and they robbed him of his raiment. 
The thieves represent SIN and the raiment represents righteousness.  
Notice this man fell.  
Adam fell when he sinned in the Garden of Eden, 
and he was stripped of his righteousness and saw his nakedness.  
All mankind became sinners through Adam.  
"As by one man sin entered into the world."
(Rom. 5:12). 
 

   This man was left half dead.  
All mankind is half dead.  physically alive but spiritually dead towards God. 
Without Christ, all continue to be spiritually dead although we are physically alive. 
This what God meant when he said to Adam,
“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die.”
(Gen.2:17). 

Adam did not die physically, but spiritually.  
Thus all mankind are spiritually dead toward God,
and cannot understand the spiritual things of God. 
Only through the teaching by the Holy Spirit can one truly know the deep things of God
(1Cor. 2:9-14; 1Joh. 2:27). 

V. 31: "And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side." 
 

   The Priest came by chance.  He had no purpose. 
He saw the man and did not help him because he saw no need. 
The priest represents RELIGION, and religion is good only for this physical world. 
Religion cannot help you spiritually in getting anyone to heaven. 
Religion is based on rituals and philosophy of this life. 
It is of this physical world, and so when the priest saw the man was physically alive, 
he saw no need to help him.  
The priest could not see that he was spiritually dead. 

 V. 32: "And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side." 

    Likewise, the Levite could not help him. 
The Levite represents GOOD WORKS. 
In the Old Testament the Levite's work was in helping the Priest in the physical work of the Tabernacle. 
Good Works cannot help you in healing your sins and getting you to heaven.  
The priest and the Levite or religion and good works do not belong with Grace and faith. 
The both belong on the other side. 

V. 33: "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him," 

   The Good Samaritan did not come by chance but journeyed and came to where the wounded person was and helped him. 
Jesus purposely came to die for us and to save us from the penalty of our sins and from the power of SIN. 
 

V. 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," 

   The Good Samaritan, who represents Jesus,
journeyed from heaven to earth to die for our sins.  
He healed us (bound up our wounds). 
He poured in Oil (gave us the Holy Spirit) and Wine (gave us joy.)
Some say the wine represents His blood. 
At times the wine does represent His blood, but here it represents joy. 
Here it is joy, because you cannot receive the Holy Spirit before the blood cleanses you. 
 If the wine came before the Holy Spirit then the wine would depict the blood. 

Here it is the Holy Spiritwho gives us joy.  He set us up with Him on his own beast. 
Now we are sitting with Him in the heavenlies. 
He brought us to the inn (the local 
church) and said to those in charge (elders) to take care of him. 
 

 V. 35: "And on the new next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, "take care of him; and whatever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." 

    He gave two denarii which is two day's wages and when He returns (the Rapture)
He will repay (reward) them. 
He gave them enough money to last them for two days, after which time He will return. 
Since one day with the Lord is one thousand years with us, (Psa. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:8),
He is coming back for us in approximately 2000 years. 
We know that His coming is soon 
because of all the things that are happening now, 
and it is approximately 2,000 years since His Death. 
 

 V. 36: "Which, now, of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?" 

 V. 37: The lawyer said, "He that showed mercy on him."  Then said Jesus unto him, "Go, and do thou likewise." 
 

    Showing mercy to all,  is the result of loving God, 
but we cannot love God until we see and know His love for us. 
We love Him because He first loved us
(1Joh. 4:19). 
"For God so loved the world"....knowing this love,
enables us to be merciful to others, for this love that was displayed on the Cross,
gives us eternal life. 
We extend mercy because we already have eternal life, not to obtain it. 

   Remember this parable is in the Gospel, the good news of what God has done for us. 
The lawyer asked Jesus,
"what shall I do to inherit Eternal Life?" 
One cannot do anything to obtain Eternal Life.  
Jesus knew in his heart that the lawyer would justify himself as so many of us do. 
Jesus pointed him to the Ten Commandments to tell him that he has sinned,
(Rom. 3:20). 
 

Jesus told the lawyer that he is a sinner in need of salvation through Grace, 
and he cannot obtain eternal life by keeping the Ten Commandments,
for no one can keep them
(Acts 13:39; 15:10). 
 

If the lawyer had acknowledged that he cannot keep the Ten Commandments,
and that he is a sinner, Jesus would have mercy and forgiveness for him,
and he would inherit Eternal Life. 
However, he felt guilty in his heart and he tried to justify himself and asked,
"And who is my neighbor?" 

        "IT IS GOD THAT JUSTIFIETH"
(Rom. 8:33). 
 

GO HOME
 
 
 

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