“The lawyer said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise’” (Luke 10:37).
Some people rob, beat, and kill others without mercy. In Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, a stranger is robbed, beaten, and left for dead. If the criminals had loved God, they would have loved their neighbor and not beaten or robbed anyone: they would never have become criminals or they would have ceased to be criminals. In His parable, Jesus does not tell what happened to the robbers, but He does tell us what happened to the victim. First, two men walked by and ignored him. Though they did not act as badly as the robbers, they did not love their neighbor and they left the man dying. By a sin of omission, they too broke God’s law, though no doubt they could think up many excuses for not helping the man. Then, a Samaritan walked by, a man who knew the law of love as much as the others; for he too believed in the first five books of the Bible. He stopped, applied wine and oil as medicine to the man’s wounds, put the man on his donkey, and took him to an inn and cared for him. He promised the innkeeper that he would pay all of the man’s medical bills and lodging until he was well. The Good Samaritan loved with all the love that God poured into his heart. He did more than anyone could expect, because he treated the wounded man as he would have treated himself: he loved his neighbor as himself. We may not be able to stop someone from mistreating or ignoring the needs of others; however, we can do what Jesus said.