Go and Do the Same

June 28, 2019

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)

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 as equally applied by the Jews to the Samaritans as it was applied by the Samaritans to the Jews; therefore, the Samaritan could have justified to himself passing by the injured man. Jesus doesn’t tell us why the Samaritan stopped and the others did not; he just tells us he did and for us to “go and do the same” (Luke 10:37).

My Takeaway: I find it helpful in my evening devotions or meditations to include some quiet time to 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.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also 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.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

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 in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available 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.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.