PDC-8: En route Jerusalem to Jericho

PDC-8: En route Jerusalem to Jericho

The Holy Bible, the source of divine wisdom is also the first book that introduced us to the compassionate heart of the common man. 

One of the best passages that portray the compassionate heart of the common man is the passage of the Good Samaritan. (St. Luke 10: 25-37)

St. Luke 10:30 "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead."

The scene is a man lying on the ground and hoping for some one to help him.

A priest passed by and saw the wounded man. The priest ignored the man and walked on the other side of the road.

Later, a Levite passed by and saw the wounded man and he also ignored the cry of the wounded man.

Later, a Samaritan passed by and saw the wounded man. He took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.

Let's closely look at the things (10 points) that the Samaritan did that was different from the previous two travelers.

1. The Samaritan did not ignore the cry of the helpless man. He faced the unexpected situation.

2. The Samaritan was on a travel. He took a break from his travel to help a stranger in an unknown place. This break, would have delayed him reaching his destination. The notion of being delayed for his trip did not prevent him from doing well to the wounded man. He invested his time to serve the wounded man.

3. The Samaritan empathized with the wounded man. He had pity and compassion for the wounded man. He transformed his compassion into action of helping the man.

4. The Samaritan unconditionally volunteered to help the wounded man by going to the wounded man and bandaged his wounds. Nobody had asked him to do it.

5. The Samaritan provided short-term relief by pouring oil and wine on the wounds of the man. The Samaritan shared his resources with the person in need. The Samaritan was on a travel, and hence he definitely had a purpose for the oil and wine he was carrying with him, but he realized that there was a greater purpose and need for it to be used to save a dying soul. The notion of running out of resources during the trip did not prevent him from doing well to the wounded man.

6-10. In the next article 'The Samaritan to the Good Samaritan'

To be continued...

 

The next two topics:
PDC-09: The Samaritan to the Good Samaritan
PDC-10: The Good Samaritan: The inheritor of the Eternal Life

 

Thanks,
Rajesh Vargheese
St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Austin, TX
(Currently from Kottayam, Kerala)