QUESTION:
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, who were the two people that didn’t help the man that was left for dead?
ANSWER:
25 Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Here you have a person who has a title that shows him to be Biblical knowledgeable and with pride, he came to prove the Son of God wrong or to trap Him with his test.
26 “What is written in the law?” He asked him. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus answers his question with a question to get the expert in the law to see that what he is so knowledgeable of, he is not following.
If we read Scripture but don’t do what it says then we do not allow God’s Word to change us.
28 “You’ve answered correctly,” He told him. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus complimented the man for knowing the Scriptures but He told him that he needed to live according to what he was reading and studying. Jesus wanted the expert in the law to love the LORD with all his heart and his neighbor as himself so that his heart would be softened for Jesus to enter in. The reason why Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds that followed Him was that their hearts were hardened just like this man who came to test Him. In verse 29, it reveals his hearts condition.
30 Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion.34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
37 “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.
Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
The parable was an illustration to reveal the hearts of the spiritual leaders of Israel, that they were responsible for showing the people God in their lives but the opposite was occurring. They were living and acting no different from the world.
Notice in the story who Jesus chose to mention as not helping the injured man, a Priest, and a Levite, the spiritual leaders. He chose to name those two parties because that’s what they were really doing.
Spiritual Minefield 