The Good Samaritan - the Attitude and Action of Charity
Many of us are familiar with the parable of the good Samaritan, found in Luke chapter 10.
After "a certain lawyer" asks the Master, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The Master asks him what the law says, to which the lawyer responds "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God..and they neighbour as thyself. Jesus tells him he answered right and to do what he had said.
The lawyer then asks, "Who is my neighbour?" The Master then tells the parable of the good Samaritan, where "a certain man" (we don't know what kind of man) was robbed, beat up, and left for dead. First a priest, and later a Levite, pass by without helping. A Samaritan, who are despised by the Jews, comes by stops, tends to the wounds, and takes the person to an inn where he pays the host to help the man as needed.
While we are quick to condemn the priest and Levite, the Lord does not. At the end of the parable he basically asks a question to the questioner which "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?" (Luke 10:36).
It is not a statement of condemnation. The original question was "Who is my neighbor?" And the answer was the person who showed mercy, to Lord responded, "Go, and do thou likewise."
The Samaritan, the one who showed mercy, had an attitude of charity, of compassion towards others. He did not let whatever business he was on, his duties, or what others might think stop him from rendering assistance.
Some things to note about the priest and Levite. The Levites were much like the priests, and often were considered in the same class. One of the duties of the Levites was the preparation of sacrifices.
Both Levites and priests were to be clean in order to perform their priestly duties. If they were not clean, they would have to go through a cleansing process. Depending on the type of uncleanness, the cleansing might only take until sundown, or the more serious issues would take several days.
One would become unclean by touching something that had died. Eating blood would make one unclean. "In New Testament times, to enter the house of a Gentile or to eat food with him involved uncleanness " (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bd/clean-and-unclean?lang=eng). I'm not certain but there may have been some restrictions where dealing with injuries might be concerned.
One thing is certain, both the priest and the Levite "passed by on the other side" instead of helping. Why they actually went to the other side of the road isn't exactly clear, but we can assume it was to avoid helping. They thought of becoming unclean might have also been an issue.
If the priest and/or Levite were going to perform any priestly duty, then being unclean would have made them unable to fulfill their duty until they were clean. Their sense of duty might have outweighed any compassion they may have had. And becoming unclean would result in the inconvenience of going through a cleansing process.
And there is another aspect. Besides the possibility of being unable to fulfill their priesthood duty, what would the people think if suddenly they were not able to perform the evening sacrifice due to being unclean?
Too often we are like the priest and Levite. We consider a certain priesthood duty to be more important than the duty we have to be charitable, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
And too often we allow what we think others will think about us, or say about us, determine how we act.
Our duty is to God, and as such it is towards our fellow man. We are to have charity towards others. We should not be concerned with what others think of us. Instead we should be more concerned with what our Heavenly Father thinks of us.
Charity, as demonstrated by the Good Samaritan, is not just the action of doing good towards others, but it is an attitude that helping others is the most important duty we have.
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The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 ¶And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And 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.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up 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.
35 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.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/luke/10
After "a certain lawyer" asks the Master, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The Master asks him what the law says, to which the lawyer responds "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God..and they neighbour as thyself. Jesus tells him he answered right and to do what he had said.
The lawyer then asks, "Who is my neighbour?" The Master then tells the parable of the good Samaritan, where "a certain man" (we don't know what kind of man) was robbed, beat up, and left for dead. First a priest, and later a Levite, pass by without helping. A Samaritan, who are despised by the Jews, comes by stops, tends to the wounds, and takes the person to an inn where he pays the host to help the man as needed.
While we are quick to condemn the priest and Levite, the Lord does not. At the end of the parable he basically asks a question to the questioner which "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?" (Luke 10:36).
It is not a statement of condemnation. The original question was "Who is my neighbor?" And the answer was the person who showed mercy, to Lord responded, "Go, and do thou likewise."
The Samaritan, the one who showed mercy, had an attitude of charity, of compassion towards others. He did not let whatever business he was on, his duties, or what others might think stop him from rendering assistance.
Some things to note about the priest and Levite. The Levites were much like the priests, and often were considered in the same class. One of the duties of the Levites was the preparation of sacrifices.
Both Levites and priests were to be clean in order to perform their priestly duties. If they were not clean, they would have to go through a cleansing process. Depending on the type of uncleanness, the cleansing might only take until sundown, or the more serious issues would take several days.
One would become unclean by touching something that had died. Eating blood would make one unclean. "In New Testament times, to enter the house of a Gentile or to eat food with him involved uncleanness " (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bd/clean-and-unclean?lang=eng). I'm not certain but there may have been some restrictions where dealing with injuries might be concerned.
One thing is certain, both the priest and the Levite "passed by on the other side" instead of helping. Why they actually went to the other side of the road isn't exactly clear, but we can assume it was to avoid helping. They thought of becoming unclean might have also been an issue.
If the priest and/or Levite were going to perform any priestly duty, then being unclean would have made them unable to fulfill their duty until they were clean. Their sense of duty might have outweighed any compassion they may have had. And becoming unclean would result in the inconvenience of going through a cleansing process.
And there is another aspect. Besides the possibility of being unable to fulfill their priesthood duty, what would the people think if suddenly they were not able to perform the evening sacrifice due to being unclean?
Too often we are like the priest and Levite. We consider a certain priesthood duty to be more important than the duty we have to be charitable, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
And too often we allow what we think others will think about us, or say about us, determine how we act.
Our duty is to God, and as such it is towards our fellow man. We are to have charity towards others. We should not be concerned with what others think of us. Instead we should be more concerned with what our Heavenly Father thinks of us.
Charity, as demonstrated by the Good Samaritan, is not just the action of doing good towards others, but it is an attitude that helping others is the most important duty we have.
---
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 ¶And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And 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.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up 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.
35 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.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/luke/10
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