The Good Samaritan Parable
Michael,
Once again, thank you for your faithfulness to what God has called and chosen you to do – I can’t begin to tell you how blessed I am to begin to “see” and I can’t tell you how AMAZED I am at how “blind” I had been all these years of studying the Bible when I really thought I “saw”.
When you have time, please review and comment on the breakdown of the spiritual meaning of the parable of the good Samaritan written below (King James). It was presented to me and seems to fit. I would greatly appreciate any feedback (positive or negative).Luk 10:25-37
(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 neighbor 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 neighbor?
(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 neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?
(37) And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.spiritual translation:
A lawyer = An educated religious man
Jerusalem represents place where God dwells
Jericho was the 1st city in the land of Canaan which was the land of their enemy that had to be conquered and possessed and in the time of Jesuswas known as the wicked city and the mountain overlooking Jericho is where Satan 1st tempted Jesus, therefore Jericho represents the place of this world given toSatan as his domain.
A certain man went down from Jericho represents the 1st man (actually all man) Adam who was in the dwelling place of God, but went down to the world’s system– Satan’s domain (of course, God caused all this to happen). Adam is alive physically but “dead’ spiritually (i. e. half dead) and stripped (i. e. realized he was naked(sin) and in need of a savior).
A certain priest came down that same road represents Moses the law giver who grew up in the palaces of Egypt and was also stripped of his royal garments and left Egypt. He was alive but still spiritually dead. A certain priest (Moses) passes by on the other side – why? Man’s (Adam) sin is a spiritual wound and the law of God given to Moses could identify sin but could not save man from sin or cure his spiritual wound.
A Levite (the ordinance of the sacrifices though the Levitical priests), when he arrived at the place (the sacrifices could not permanently remove sin) came and looked, and passed by on the other side (tried to remove sin, but could not)
A certain Samaritan – Samaria was the capital of Israel and was made up of Hebrew people from the 10 tribes of Israel. Later, when the 12 tribes were reunited by the Lord, they were instructed to put away strange wives and stop mixed breeding. The Samaritans refused to do so and became known as outcasts and half breeds. Therefore, a Samaritan is a person who has one Jewish parent and of a different bloodline. Samaritan in this parable represents Jesus (God was His Father and his “mother’ was a Jewish virgin named Mary). The Samaritan (Jesus) came to where the wounded man was, just as Jesus came from heaven to earth for the purpose of redeeming mankind. The 1st thing the Samaritan does is pour oil and wine (odd medical combination). Oil represents the power and working of the Spirit of God. Oil causes a lamp to burn. Wine represents the blood of Jesus (1Co 11;25). The blood of Jesus would remove all of his sins and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit would revive and heal theman.
Placed him on his animal – a type of every animal sacrificed and foreshadowing the day the Lamb of God would be sacrificed on a cross.
Inn – there was no room for Jesus at the Inn at His birth. The inn represents the church and the innkeeper represents His ministers. Jesus wants His true church and chosen ministers to receive those He is drawing (dragging) and pour the Oil and Wine to the neighbor (represents all who God is drawing to Him who recognize they are “blind” and in need of a savior)
Two denari paid to the innkeeper – denari represents a day’s wage (parable of the workers in the vineyard) representing 2000 years (Peter – A day is as a thousand years…). The command came with a prepayment and a promise for more when the Samaritan returns – “What ever you spend when I return again, I will repay you”. Jesus announces He will return again and “My reward is with Me” (Rev 22:12,13)
So, if we insert the spiritual meanings of the symbols of the parable we would read it this way:
Jesus answered the religious man saying “Adam went down from the Paradise of God to Satan’s domain. There Satan stripped him of his clothing caused him to sin and departed, leaving Adam spiritually dead. Moses came down that road and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side because the Law revealed sin but could not remove it. Likewise, Aaron, of the Levitical priesthood, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side because the animal sacrifices could not permanently remove sin and restore Adam’s raceback to God. Then Jesus came! he came where he was, because sinful man could not come to Him. And when he saw him, He had compassion. So He went to him and bandaged his spiritual wounds, and poured in the Holy Spirit and His own blood to heal and revive him. he placed man’s sins on the cross and established the church (true church) to care for him. On the next day, when He departed, he paid His ministers for 2000 years of labor. He commissioned the ministers by saying, “Take care of him, and whatever more you spend when I come again, I will reward you. So your neighbor is any sinner who is in need of salvation.
May God continue to bless you.
M____
Hi M____,
You ask me to give you my take on the spiritual application of the parable of the good Samaritan. I think this is very well done except for the interpretation of the two denari. I do not see them as having anything to do with two thousand years. They are, as you point out, a day’s wage, and a day’s wage is interpreted as life being given to all who work in the master’s vineyard. The parable of the workers in the vineyard make it clear that the last will be first. The man who fell among the thieves is indeed Adam, but the Samaritan is by all accounts the lowest and last in the eyes of the priests and Levites. Christ is, of course, ‘the stone rejected by you builders:’
Act 4:11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Peter was speaking to the family of the high priest when he made that statement. The family of the high priest definitely stands for the powers and principalities which withstand Christ and want Him dead.
So this is a very good look at the parable of the good Samaritan. What I would add, is that we all need to remember that as this person points out the man going down to Jericho is Adam. And every person in this parable is “in Adam.” “As in Adam all die” means that all of this is in each of us. We have Adam in us who falls among the thieves. We also as Adam, have the priest and the Levite within us. And in God’s own sovereign time we will all also have the Good Samaritan within us all: “… So in Christ shall all be made alive.”
It is all for our admonition because “the kingdom of God is within you, and that kingdom is “like unto a net ” full of both good and bad fish. That is the kingdom within you.
I hope this adds just a little more to a very good application of the parable of the good Samaritan.
Mike
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