COMPASSION OVER FEAR

In one of His most famous parables, Jesus told the story of a man who was robbed and beaten up, then left half dead on the side of the road to Jericho, a rugged and barren road through the Judean wilderness. A couple of “respectable” folks passed by without wanting to risk getting involved, staying at a safe distance. Then came the unlikely hero of Jesus’ story—a “despised Samaritan” traveler who noticed the injured man and “felt compassion for him” (Luke 10:33, NLT). While the priest and the Levite would have risked their ceremonial purity to stop to help the beaten man, anyone stopping on that roadside would have been taking a risk that the robbers were still in the area. But motivated by compassion, the Samaritan stopped and set about tending to the man’s wounds. He then went even further, committing to pay the costs of the man’s ongoing care and recovery at the closest inn (see Luke 10:35).

In Jesus’ story, the Samaritan risked himself, risked getting involved, risked inconvenience and cost—because he had compassion. Jesus told this story in response to a leading question from a lawyer about who was the “neighbor” that the law required him to love. Jesus did not quibble. His summary answer was, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).

Fear and prejudice do not discount our call to love, to serve, and to help. Compassion must be stronger than fear. As outrageous and offensive as it would have been to His original audience, Jesus was telling them to be “a good Samaritan”—before that became a cliché—and insisting that a good Samaritan was someone to keep an eye out for.