A Reflection on the Parable of the Good Samaritan

One of the things I value the most in this life is the Holy Scripture, the Bible. It wasn't that way in the beginning. I grew up where the Bible is only read in church every Sunday.

I wasn't able to own a complete Old and New Testament Bible until I was in college. I used to have a Gideons New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs when I was in high school. I was so happy for the Gideons International to give me that booklet for free.

Through it I was able to read my favorite verse early in life, John 3:16. It was written in many languages in that New Testament. One of my favorite Gospel stories to read (actually it's a parable) was the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I've heard it read once in church and it was taught in class by our catechist.

I was fascinated by the Samaritan's exemplary act of mercy on a stranger who was robbed and left half-dead by the bandits. I didn't understand why the two religious men would pass the dying man by and would not take care of him or help him.

I understand now. But back then, I was provoked to anger by the indifference of the priest and the Levite. I was in awe, however, of the Samaritan's good and tender heart. He was my hero, a good example to follow.

I wasn't a believer then when I first heard and read this story. I got converted later in life. But this story and the message it conveys became more meaningful to me as I grow in my knowledge of the Bible's overall message.

From the vantage point of redemptive history, I see more and more the resemblance of God's work of rescuing helpless and dying men through the work of Christ in this parable. I am seeing more and more Christ in the Good Samaritan who rescued not just a needy stranger but really an enemy.

The Samaritans had nothing to do with the Jews at that time (cf. John 4:9). And so for a Samaritan to have pity on, to rescue, and to take care of an enemy is mind-boggling. It was an extraordinary, out-of-this-world act.

Reflecting on this story, I realize that its message is no different from the storyline of the whole Bible. It's a story of rescuing someone from sure death. It's a story of saving an enemy from danger. It's a story of salvation and redemption.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a story within a larger story. It's the story of God rescuing and delivering fallen men, in fact enemies, from sin and death, through the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.