Go and Do the Same

Tuesday, July 30, 2013              Go and Do the Same

“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

Luke 10:36-37 (Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37)

Let’s begin with a little illustration. Please read the following sentence:

FEDERAL FUSES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND STUDY AND THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

Now, count the number of fs in the sentence. Many people count two fs, but most people see three fs. However, some people have counted four and others have counted five and even six fs in the sentence. There are in fact six fs in the sentence: one f each in, federal fuses and scientific and 3 fs in the word of that is used three times.

We can draw many lessons from the variations in the number of fs observed in this exercise, not the least of which is how easy it is to overlook the obvious. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the expert in religious law revealed his affliction of overlooking the obvious when he “stood up to test Jesus” (Luke 10:25). Jesus’ response to the test makes clear that he isn’t calling us to try and be better people. He is calling his followers to come with him to live in a new realm, the Kingdom of God, where life is altogether different. Here all people are valued as the precious creation of God. The contrast between life in the Kingdom of God and the world’s culture is illustrated by the expert in religious law when he affirms the commandment to love his neighbor as himself, as long as he is the one determining his neighbors.

Jesus contrasted the expert’s worldview and the Kingdom of God with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. . .” In this story Jesus tells, three different people encountered the man who was attacked by bandits: a priest, a Temple assistant (a Levite) and a despised Samaritan. Two passed on by. Only the Samaritan stopped to help. What did he see that the other two overlooked? The adjective, despised, was equally applied by the Jews to the Samaritans as it was applied by the Samaritans to the Jews. That adjective made it easy for the priest and Levite to overlook the obvious; there was a person in need. Jesus doesn’t tell us how or why the Samaritan could see what the others did not; he just tells us he did and for us to “go and do the same” (Luke 10:37).

I find it helpful to occasionally include with my evening devotions or meditations, some quiet time to simply reflect on all the places I have been throughout the day and the people I have encountered. In this hindsight, that at times is actually 20/20, I find I have missed opportunities to “go and do the same.”  I then pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts” (Psalm 139:23) as I seek God’s wisdom on why I am overlooking the obvious.

  

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.