The Good Samaritan’s Impact

Posted by on Jan 27, 2022 in Articles | 0 comments

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. Luke 10:35

Typically when I read Luke 10 and the parable of the Good Samaritan, I usually only focus on his actions and how to emulate them as this is the motivation and reason for the parable (Luke 10:29,36). But, I began to think about the host of the inn and how being a witness to such a charitable deed would have affected him. While we realize these characters are all used in a parable which we define as an earthly story with heavenly meaning, we still can learn something beneficial from them even though they are not the main character.

When we see someone do good out of the kindness of their heart, it restores our faith in mankind. Sadly, we tend to focus on the negative we see in our fellow man, but it would have certainly struck the host of the inn seeing the actions of the Samaritan that there are still good people. This is a lesson we need as much as ever today. While he was not the beneficiary of the Samaritan’s deeds, he could have easily benefitted in this way from them. It is no different for us as our actions have an impact in the lives of all we encounter (Matt. 5:13-16).

The host of the inn also teaches us that opportunities to do good to others can be unexpected. It is important to always be prepared to extend a helping hand to others. Titus 3:8 says, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men”.

Also, this too would have not been at his convenience. Again, true service rarely is (2 Tim. 2:10). It is the giving of ourselves that makes our benevolent acts truly impactful.

In the end, he was assured it would not cost him anything (Luke 10:35b). He would be repaid at any cost. We are the same in that we might hesitate thinking we might lose something for efforts expended but God’s word assures us we actually are rewarded above measure for doing what is good. Matthew 6:4 reminds us, “That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly”.

By Jason Barger

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