Thursday, August 23, 2018

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

          Verse 25)   On one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

          26)   “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

          27)   He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

          28)   “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this, and you will live.”

          29)   But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

          30)   In reply, Jesus said: “A man was going down from Washington D.C. to Nevada, and he was attacked by cancer cells in a grade IV Glioblastoma. They stripped him of his sanity and wealth, and beat his body into a coma, leaving him half dead.

          31)   An insurance adjustor happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side and said he was sorry that he had denied him insurance coverage when he could have, because he had a pre-existing condition from his military service.

          32)   So too, a medical professional, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side, whispering to himself that if medical care was given to those who could not afford it, it would diminish his profits and limit the care of others.

          33)   But a Republican, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

          34)   He went to him, patted him on the head, and gave him a drink of water. Then, he shot a donkey that was passing by, and told him that the donkey’s carcass was, actually, really great health care – the best in the world.

          35)   The next day, the Republican took out two dollars and gave to the local mayor. “Clean up the two carcases,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have, if you vote for me.”

          36)   Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of cancer?

          37)   The expert in the law replied, “All of them, for they knew what was best for the living, and they let the man with cancer die while under the comforting smell of a rotting carcass.”

Jesus told him, “Go, and do likewise.”

Loren M. Lambert © July 22, 2017

No comments: