THIS is unfolded with uncommon beauty and power in the touching parable of "the good Samaritan." The lawyer, like all legalists, "willing to justify himself,'' sought to ascertain who was his neighbor; and in reply our blessed Lord drew a picture in which is most vividly presented the true condition of every sinner, be he lawyer or whatever else." 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 " (Luke 10:3030And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (Luke 10:30)). LUK 10:3030And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (Luke 10:30)
What a picture of man's career and man's condition! "A certain man" (the writer or the reader of these lines) "went down.”
How true! Reader, is it not so? Has not thy course ever been a downward one? Hash thou ever, when left to thyself, taken a step upward, a step in the right direction? There is no use in generalizing, in making statements about mankind, the whole human race, Adam's posterity, and the like. What we want is to bring the matter home to ourselves, and say, each for himself, "am the certain man of this singularly beautiful parable; it is my own very figure that appears in the foreground of this masterly picture; my course has been a downward one; I have gone down from the innocency of childhood to the folly of youth, and. from the folly of youth to the matured wickedness of manhood, and here I am, stripped of every shred in which I might wrap myself; wounded in every region of my moral being; and having the painful consciousness that death has already begun its terrible work in me.”
Such is the career, such the condition of every sinner: his career, downward; his condition, death. What is to be done? Can he keep the law?
Alas! he is not able to move.
Can the "priest" do aught for him?
Alas! he has no sacrifice, and no ability to rise and get one.
Can the "Levite" not help him?
Alas! he is so polluted with his wounds and bruises that neither Levite nor priest could touch him. In a word, neither law nor ordinances can meet his case. He is utterly ruined. He has destroyed himself. The law has flung him overboard as a defiled, good-for-nothing, condemned thing. It is useless talking to him about the law, or asking him will he take it as a means of justification, a rule of life, or the power of sanctification. It has cursed, condemned, and set him aside altogether, and he has only to cry out from the profound and awful depths of his moral ruin, “O wretched man that l am who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Now, it is when a man is really brought to this that he is in a position to see the moral grandeur of the gospel. It is when he has discovered his own guilt, misery, and ruin, and also his entire inability to meet the just and holy claims of the law, or to profit in any wise by the appliances of the legal system in its most attractive forms, that he is prepared to appreciate the ample provisions of the grace of God.
This is most strikingly illustrated in the scene before us. When the poor man had got down from Jerusalem to Jericho, from the city of God to the city of the curse (Josh. 6:2626And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. (Joshua 6:26); JOS 6:2626And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. (Joshua 6:26); 1 Kings 16:33, 3433And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 34In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun. (1 Kings 16:33‑34) 1KI 16:33-3433And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 34In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun. (1 Kings 16:33‑34)) ; when he lay stripped, wounded, and half-dead; when both priest and Levite had turned from him and gone their way; it was just then that he was in a position to prove the grace of the good Samaritan, who assuredly is none other than the blessed Lord Jesus Himself, who (blessed forever be His precious name!) here appears in the form of a Samaritan only to enhance the grace that breathes forth upon our souls in this lovely scene.
“The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans," and, hence, had the Jew in this parable had sufficient strength, he would not, we may safely aver, have suffered the stranger to touch him. But he was so far gone, so powerless, so under the power of death, that the gracious Samaritan had it all his own way.
And oh! what a tender way it was!
“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had Compassion, and went to him, and hound tip 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. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.”
Here, then, is what is revealed in the gospel.
Man has ruined himself. He has gone down from God. He has fallen under the power of the enemy. He is the victim of Satan, the slave of sin, the subject of death. His case is, hopeless, so far as he is concerned. But, blessed be God, the true Samaritan has come down into all the ruin. The Son of God left His eternal dwelling-place, and came down into this world to remedy our ruin, to bear our guilt, to endure the wrath of God in our stead. All this He did, beloved reader, as the expression of His own tender compassion and love. "He had compassion," and came to 'bind up our wounds; to pour "the wine and oil" of His own most precious grace into our souls; to heal, restore, and bless us; to put us into His own position, according to the power which had brought Him into ours; to make ample provision for all our need, until that 'bright and happy moment when we shall he ushered into His presence to go no more out forever.
The page of inspiration does not present a more touching picture than that which the Master's pencil has drawn for us in “the good Samaritan." It is perfectly beautiful, and beautifully perfect. It is divine. Every expression is fraught with exquisite moral loveliness." He came where he was "; not halfway, or nine-tenths of the way, but all the way." And when he saw him," what then? Did he turn away in disgust at his appearance, and despair of his condition? Ah! no: "He had compassion on him." His tender heart yearned over him. He cared not what he was or who he was, Jew or Gentile. It mattered not; the streams of tender compassion came gushing up from the deep fountains of a heart that found its own delight in ministering to every form of human need.
Nor was this "compassion" a mere movement of sentimentality, an evanescent feeling uttering itself in empty words, and then passing away. No; it was a real, living, acting thing, expressing itself in the most unmistakable manner. "He went to him." For what? To meet his every need, and not to leave him until he had placed him in a position of security, rest, and blessing.
Nor was this all. Not only, did this gracious stranger fully meet the wounded one's present need; but, ere leaving, he dropped these touching words, "Take care of him." How this must have melted the poor man's heart! Such disinterested kindness! And all from a stranger! Yea, from one with whom he would naturally have "no friendly dealings.”
Finally, as if to complete the picture, he says, "When I come again." He awakens in the heart, by these last words, "the blessed hope" of seeing him again.
What a lovely picture! And yet it is all a divine reality. It is the simple story of the blessed Jesus who, in His tender compassion, looked upon us in our low and utterly hope, less condition, left His eternal dwelling-place of light and love, took upon Him the likeness of sinful flesh, was made of a woman, made under the law, lived a spotless life, and fulfilled a perfect ministry down here for three 'and thirty years, and finally died on the cross as a perfect atonement for sin, in order that God might be just, and the justifier of any poor, ungodly, convicted sinner that simply trusts in Jesus.
Yes, dear reader, whoever you are, high or low, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, Jesus has done all this; and He is now at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. The One who was nailed to the cross for us is now on the throne. Eternal Justice has wreathed His sacred brow with the chaplet of victory, and that, be it remembered, on our behalf.
Nor is this all. He has said, "I will come again" (John 14). JOH 14 Precious words! Say, wouldst thou be glad to see Him? Dost thou know Him as the good Samaritan? Hast thou felt His loving hand binding up thy spiritual wounds? Hast thou known the healing virtues of His oil, and the restoring, invigorating, and cheering influence of His wine? Hast thou heard Him speak those thrilling words, "Take care of him"?
If so, then, surely thou wilt be glad to see His face; thou wilt cherish in thine heart's tender affections the blessed hope of seeing Him as He is, and of being like Him and with Him forever. The Lord grant it may he so with thee, beloved reader!
C. H. M.