Take Care Of Him Lk 10: 25-37 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

This story of the Good Samaritan is often told to show what Jesus has done for us to save us.  It provides a text for a good salvation message.  Notice these great truths:

• The man was half dead – Lk 10:30 – before we are saved we are physically alive but spiritually dead.
• Religion couldn’t save him – Lk 10:31-32 – the priest and the Levite didn’t do anything for him.
• The Samaritan came where he was – Lk 10:33 – Jesus came to earth to save us. 
• The Samaritan had compassion on him – Lk 10:33 – Jesus had compassion on us [Jn 3:16].
• The Samaritan bound up his wounds with oil and wine – Lk 10:34 – the oil typifies the Holy Spirit by whom we are born again and the wine typifies the blood of Jesus Christ by which we are saved.
• The Samaritan brought him to an inn – Lk 10:34 – the inn typifies a good church into which the Lord will lead you after you are saved. He said to the host, “Take care of him,” [Lk 10:35].
• The Samaritan took care of him – Lk 10:34 – Jesus cares for us after we are saved.  He said, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you,” [1 Pet 5:7].
• The Samaritan departed – Lk 10:35 – Jesus ascended into heaven after his resurrection.
• The Samaritan gave two pence to the host – Lk 10:35 – a pence is a day’s wage.  Each day with the Lord is as a thousand years.  The church age is approximately two thousand years. So, the Lord provides for the care of those he saves throughout the church age.
• The Samaritan promised to come again – Lk 10:35 – Jesus is coming again.
• The Samaritan promised to repay the host – Lk 10:35 – Jesus will reward us for our labor for him on behalf of saints and sinners.

If you aren’t saved, Jesus has taken care of everything needed to save your soul.  You just need to trust what he has already done for you and be saved.

While the story of this certain Samaritan provides a great salvation text, it was told to a lawyer to illustrate the second commandment.  Jesus used this story to expound what it means to love thy neighbor as thyself.  He told the lawyer at the end of this story to “Go, and do thou likewise,” [Lk 10:37].  So, this story shows us how Jesus wants us to take care of others the way that the Samaritan took care of the fellow who was left half dead. To take care of someone in need, we must:

Have compassion on them – Lk 10:33 – do you know what compassion is?  It is “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.”  Do you know what sympathy is?  It is “the relationship between persons wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other.”  So, when we have compassion on others, we are affected by their distress to the point that we “feel” it and are moved to do what we can to alleviate it.

Go to them – Lk 10:34 – the Samaritan “went to him.”  It is impossible to “love thy neighbor” from the comfort of your own home.

Do something for them – Lk 10:34 – the Samaritan didn’t just go over to the fellow and tell him he loved him and that he was sorry he was in such a case.  He didn’t stop with, “May I pray for you?”  He assessed this fellow’s needs and “took care of him.”  That is, once he stopped he was committed to seeing to this fellow’s care until he was completely healed.  He didn’t just alleviate the immediate need and then go on about his business. 

• • He met his primary needs – He bound up his wounds
  • He met his secondary needs – he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn
  • He met his tertiary needs – he took out two pence and gave them to the host

Often we don’t want to do something for them because it’s going to require some time and effort to take care of them.  And we don’t want to get saddled with that extra work and care.

Have mercy on them – Lk 10:37 – Mercy is “compassionate treatment of those in distress.” But mercy emphasizes, like the mercy of God, that he didn’t expect anything in return.  Jesus’ mercy on us requires nothing from us but to receive it.  Often, people have the thought, deeply rooted in themselves, before they do something, “What’s in it for me?”  And the answer, when it comes to charity, is “Nothing.”  There was nothing about what the Samaritan did for this fellow that was for himself.  The Samaritan went out of his way to help this fellow.  He got his hands dirty, he shared his oil and wine, he provided transportation, he settled him in the inn, he paid the innkeeper for his care, and he committed to follow-up and return.

Conclusion: we have prayed diligently for the Lord to show us if there is another ministry that he has for us to do.  I believe that this is a much needed ministry of our church.  I believe there are members here that the Lord has gifted with mercy [Rom 12:6-8].  Would you be willing to be used of God to take care of someone in need?