A parable is a story told, to illustrate a moral or spiritual truth. Usually parables take the form of allegory, and are, by design, a message within a message.
Webster’s Dictionary defines a parable as: A literary form that tells a story, to present a truth or enforce a moral.
During Jesus time of walking this Earth, he often used parables to convey his message of God's love, to people. Those parables, took the form of common sense teachings about familiar subjects, such as fishing, or farming, housekeeping, or animal husbandry; but they always had an underlying spiritual truth hidden in the words. So the parables Jesus told, had both an obvious, easy to see truth, and a deeper, more difficult to see, spiritual truth.
The disciples of Jesus knew that hidden within Jesus' parables, were deep spiritual truths, which they themselves, usually did not understand, and it frustrated them. So they asked Jesus why it was that he taught using parables, and Jesus answered their question very directly.
So, Jesus hid deep spiritual truths in parables because those truths aren't meant for everyone.
He also, taught in this way, to fulfill prophesy.
Sadly, most of the people Jesus spoke to, didn't get the real message. They either found his stories too hard to understand, or they simply did not have hearts open to hear what he was really saying.
God requires faith and obedience, which is dependent upon hearing his voice, so He continued speaking to them in parables and difficult sayings, in order to see if they were really listening.
We have all had people hear us, without really listening and we know how frustrating this can be. It is really no different for God, who knows that His voice, is the most important voice of all, He alone has the answers to all our questions and needs, yet we humans are not usually listening.
It must have been especially frustrating, while Jesus walked the earth as a man, since people could see, hear and witness the Messiah firsthand, yet still most people didn't believe and wouldn't listen.
What God the Father was saying to humanity during this time, and the Holy Spirit still is saying today, is the most important thing anyone could ever know; that Jesus was and is the promised Messiah, the savior of all mankind!
Jesus spoke in hard to understand sayings, not because he liked to seem mysterious, but to force people to go to God for the meanings of his words. This was what separated the sheep from the goats, those who could hear the voice of God, and would respond, from those who could not (or would not) hear the voice of God.
He knew that God the Father would tell those who truly sought the answer, the real meaning of what he had been saying, which was and still is, “I (Jesus) am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father but by me.”
So how does a parable separate the sheep from the goats, or believers from unbelievers?
If you listened only with your mind, you would hear a story about a common thing such as, a lost sheep, or a farmer or a treasure, or bridesmaids, and so on.
If you listened with both your mind and your heart, and were open to hearing the still small voice of God, you would hear a more important story, a story about God’s heart, and his love and intentions toward mankind.
The bible teaches that salvation comes by faith, and faith comes by hearing the word of God.
This principle was clearly illustrated for us when Jesus asked his disciples who people were saying that he (Jesus) was.
Jesus response to Peter’s bold statement gives us an important key to understanding his parables and hard sayings.
Jesus said that flesh and blood, (Peter’s own intellect) had not revealed that Jesus is the Messiah, but God the Father.
So we know by this statement that the revelation of spiritual truths is given by God through grace, not obtained through mental ascent. Therefore, it is imperative that as we try to understand the parables of Jesus, that we keep an open heart, and listen to hear the truth that God wants to impart to us.
Peter had finally listened to the voice of God and heard the truth about Jesus, which gave him the faith for salvation. In fact, Jesus went on to tell him that he would no longer be called Simon, which in the Hebrew language means reed, but he would now be called Peter, or Petra in the Hebrew tongue, which means rock.
He did not mean that upon Peter he would build his church, but rather on the "rock" of the revealed understanding that Jesus is the Messiah.
In fact, it is God, revealing to us, that Jesus is the Messiah, and our belief, our faith in that revelation, which is the first step that brings us into salvation.
Jesus also gave us another key to unlock the hidden meanings of his parables, when he clearly spelled out the meaning of another parable he gave, the parable of the sower. We can use the parable of the sower and its translation, as a sort of blueprint or template, to compare with, and unlock the spiritual meanings from his other parables.
What Jesus says next clearly tells us that it is His desire to have us understand these parables. He wants us to hear what it is they are really saying.
Notice how, each word or key phrase in this parable has two meanings; the literal definition meaning, and a spiritual meaning, one which Jesus revealed.
The word bird for example, allegorically represented Satan: the word weeds, represented cares of the heart, the word seed, represented the word of God, and the different types of ground represented the different states of men’s hearts etc…
Now, armed with an open and listening heart, and with the literal interpretation of the words in the parable of the sower, as a blueprint, we can try to discern the true meaning of other parables.
Years ago the Lord graciously revealed to me, the meaning behind the words in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
I will share with you the meaning the Lord revealed to me, as a way of teaching how to understand the parables Jesus spoke.
To see this message clearly, first we must understand the context of this parable.
By the time that Jesus told this parable, he had already performed many incredible miracles, and had done and said many truly awesome things, which some people loved and cherished him for, and others (most notably, the religious leaders of Jesus' time) hated him for.
Most of the religious leaders had already come to the conclusion that Jesus was a false Messiah, and wanted him killed. The trouble was, Jesus had never done or said anything which was outside the Law of Moses or of Rome. The religious leaders needed a legitimate reason to have him put to death. So people like this lawyer, people who knew the precepts of the covenant very well, set about trying to trap Jesus with his own words. They poured over scripture trying to come up with the perfect way to prove that, not only was Jesus not the Messiah, but he was a fraud and a blasphemer, worthy of death.
The lawyer's questions to Jesus, were a well thought out trap, one which the lawyer thought was impossible to rightly answer, and which would prove, (by Jesus' inability to answer) that Jesus was not the Messiah.
The lawyer asked Jesus two questions, the first question he asked was, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”, then he asked, “Who is my neighbor?”
In the second question, "who is my neighbor?" I hear the echoes of a long ago asked question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The correct answer to the question "who is my neighbor?", can be answered correctly, by any young child with a sense of right and wrong.
The obvious answer is that everyone is our neighbor, just as we are all our brother’s keeper. We all should know the Golden rule, which is to do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.
Having said that, was seems obvious to us now, was not as clear cut as we suppose, certainly not to members of his direct audience.
At the time, the questions of "who is my neighbor", and whether literal interpretation or oral interpretation of not touching the dead, were a hot button issues, on par with so called homosexual marriage, and abortion today.
First, there were arguments over how much distance makes a neighbor, but most everyone agreed that a Samaritan could never, ever, be considered a neighbor.
Second there were arguments about whether or not "life first" should take precedence over written law, and the term half dead was probably used to further confuse the issue, was he mostly alive, or mostly dead?
At any rate, his wounds certainly made him "unclean" to the priest and the Levite. In the end, Jesus proved that loving your neighbor was the right thing, and that, the Samaritan, their traditional enemy, was their neighbor!)
It's the answer to the first question posed to Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” hidden within the words of this parable, which must be both discerned by us, and revealed to us.
To see the hidden answer, we must remember; the key Jesus gave us in the parable of the sower, how each key word or phrase in Jesus' parables has a dual meaning, and we need to try to uncover what that hidden meaning is, by listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying it means.
So let's look at and try to spiritualize, the key words in this text.
(30) Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves,
First we are introduced to a certain man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
While certain man could quite easily be taken to mean all of mankind, (I do think this is somewhat applicable), Jesus makes it plain who he refers to when he tells us what this man did.
He went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
Keep in mind that Jesus is speaking to Jewish men and women, who were so immersed in God’s laws and words, that their entire culture reflected their beliefs. Their entire worldview was framed by the words of Moses and the prophets. So Jesus taught them, using words that were intended to provoke thoughts and images specific to their understanding of the scriptures.
To the Jewish mind, Jerusalem was many things; it was the city of David their great King, it was the capital of their Promised Land and inheritance from God, and most importantly, it was the place where the Temple of God stood.
The Temple of God was the one place in all of the world where people could go, to worship God and know that they were close in proximity to his direct presence. The faithful knew that just on the other side of a large curtain, which separated the outer court of the Temple, from the Holy of Holies, YHWH (Jehovah) himself was there, in person.
People of faith, could bring their sacrifices and offerings to the Temple Priests, who would then offer them directly to the Lord. And once a year, the High Priest of the Temple, covered with the blood of a sacrifice on his right ear, right thumb and right toe, and hidden by the smoke of burned incense which filled the air; would cautiously slip inside the curtain, and offer sacrifice to YHWH, right there in his very presence, for all the people of Israel.
This was as close to mankind, that God was able to get safely, because of man's sin.
The cities’ name itself shows us how the people of Israel thought of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, in the Hebrew tongue, means God’s peace, or God’s city of peace. This city was where man could truly be at peace (shalom) with God.
Jericho, on the other hand, was an evil place historically, in the minds of the Jews. It had been known for its witchcraft, prostitution, and idolatry; so much so in fact, that it had once been destroyed by God himself, in the famous battle which pit faith in the unseen God, against a city wall which was thought to be impregnable. God Himself had ultimately given victory to the Hebrews by causing the walls to collapse.
Joshua placed a curse on the city, so that it would only be rebuilt at the cost of human sacrifice. It was later rebuilt by a wicked king who sacrificed two of his sons to demon gods in order to rebuild the city.
So what we have is a picture of a man going down from a place of blessing and peace with God, to a place of cursing and enmity with God.
These words were intended to bring to mind, the first recorded question God ever asked, which was, “Adam where are you?” After all, it was because of Adams sin that man had lost eternal life in the first place, which of course prompted the lawyers question about how to inherit eternal life.
The answer to God's question "Adam where are you?" was, that he had gone down from a place of peace with God, to place of enmity with Him.
To fix a problem, you must first truly understand what the problem is. This often requires going back to the beginning. To answer the lawyers’ question, Jesus brought his audience back to the beginning, to the root of the problem, to the reason that the question had to be asked in the first place. Jesus brought his audience back to the fall of mankind. You will see this is true by the fact that the rest of the parable lines up perfectly, using Adam and the fall of man as the starting point.
Look at the next part of the parable.
And fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing,
This certain man fell among thieves who stole, or stripped him of his clothing.
(John 10:10 KJV) The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly
Jesus called Satan many unflattering names such as father of lies, murderer, and thief.
Remember that, in the parable of the sower, Jesus spoke of birds which came to steal the word of God. The birds in that parable represented Satan and his demons. We would know that is true, (even if Jesus hadn't directly spelled it out for us), by their purpose, which was to steal.
Jesus is using the word thieves, the same way he did with the thieving birds in the parable of the sower; to represent Satan and his demons.
That means we can reread the first portion of the parable this way: a certain man (Adam) went down (fell) from Jerusalem (a place of peace and blessing) to Jericho (a place of strife and cursing) and fell among thieves (Satan and his demons).
Now the next part of the parable,
who stripped him of his clothing, can be most easily discerned by putting ourselves in the sandals of the Jewish audience of that day.
To the men and women of that day, clothing truly did “make the man” as we say. The clothing they wore reflected their station in life, it reflected their status, and authority. A king, for example, wore extremely costly, majestic clothing, the greater the clothing he wore, the greater the power he wielded.
This brings to mind the description Isaiah gave of the Lord, when he saw him in the temple.
(Isaiah 6:1 KJV) In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
God is so majestic and wields so much power, that just the train of his robe, or clothing, filled the temple in order to reflect his majesty.
Obviously the clothing that this certain man wore was something to be desired, and reflected a high status, since we are told that the thieves were specifically after his clothing. Notice it doesn't say that they were after money or food of anything else he might have had? We are told only that, they were after what he was wearing.
This makes sense if you replace the word clothing with what the word represents, authority. After all, wasn't that what Satan wanted when he was thrown out of Heaven in the first place?
(Isaiah 14:12-14 KJV) How art thou fallen from heaven, o Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (13) For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of congregation, in the sides of the north: (14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most high.
Satan has always lusted for status and authority; he was created to give God worship, but could not abide not receiving any worship himself. So because he couldn't have or steal what belonged to God, he took what belonged to man.
(Insert rabbit trail search on clothing, mentioning Bride of Christ in Revelations 12 and 17, clothed in light, GOD wrapped in light, (Psalm 104:2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:) awaiting being clothed with light (2 Corinthians 5:2 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.) Armor of GOD/Priestly Garments Isaiah 59:17 Ephesians 6
(Gen 1:27-28 NKJV) So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) Then God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Man had been given dominion over all the earth, which was undoubtedly something that Satan lusted for control of; and since man had been created in the very image of God, any insult or injury done to man was an insult or injury to the image of God.
Satan would enjoy any small, mean, petty act of retribution he could have against God, or at least those who had been created in the image of God, whom God loved; not to mention the power he would wield as the ruler of this world.
(Gen 2:16-17 NKJV) And the LORD God commanded the man saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.”
(Gen 3:7-10 NKJV) Then the eyes of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. (8) And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (9) Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” (10) So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
I always find it intriguing when God asks a question, because I have to ask myself, why would an omniscient God, ask a question he already knows the answer to?
Why would God ask Adam where he was, when God obviously knew where Adam was, by the fact that he was there talking to him? God doesn't ask questions because he needs the information, but because he wants us to see the answer for ourselves.
Where was Adam?
He was in fear, in pain, in panic, he felt foolish, misused, and untrustworthy. He no longer trusted God or his wife in the same way he had before, he no longer felt safe, and he was no longer perfect physically, mentally or spiritually. There was now a wall between himself and God, which inhibited his communion with God.
He had died spiritually and caused death to enter the world, himself, his wife, and all his future offspring. Worst of all he knew it, and felt horribly guilty, and deeply ashamed.
Notice how Adam said that he hid because he was naked? Do you hear the echoes of the fall of man in Jesus parable? Do you see why Jesus said that the thieves took his clothing? The clothing was that of a king who had been given dominion over all the earth, it was symbolic of Adams authority, which was what Satan desperately wanted.
A more contemporary example of this relationship between clothing and authority is the policeman. While in uniform, he is to be treated as a representative of the government, he has the authority to stop traffic, make arrests, and even use deadly force if necessary, in order to enforce the laws the government has established. We all know he has this authority when we see his uniform and badge.
The Lord had given authority over all the earth to Adam, and as long as he remained submitted to God, he kept that authority and remained covered by God. As soon as he submitted to Satan, however, the devil was able to steal that authority because Adam had stepped out from the protective covering of the Lord.
After Adam sinned, Satan was referred to, as the prince of the power of the air; he is called the ruler of wickedness in high places, because Satan had stolen Adam’s rightful authority, so becoming the ruler of this world.
(Ephesians 2:2 KJV) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
So where was Adam?
He had gone from Jerusalem to Jericho, and had fallen among thieves who had stolen his clothing. And those thieves had, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
The Result of Sin
I think it is very odd, how we as people so often use maxims, which we hold to be truthful, without really thinking about what we’re saying or what they mean. My favorite example of this is the one maxim we all collectively hold to be true, that “no one is perfect”.
It’s sad that we have become so acclimated to this imperfect existence that we just shrug our shoulders and say “no one’s perfect", without realizing that it wasn't supposed to be that way.
We rarely stop to think that we as a creation must have horribly offended our creator by doing evil things we were never intended to do. Especially since we were created in the image of God and are thereby besmirching his image when we do these things.
It must truly sadden the heart of God to see beings he created and loves, have to experience pain, sickness and death. Yet we have lived in an imperfect world with imperfect people for so long, that sometimes we think that this is the natural order of things.
Nothing could be further from the truth, we were never meant to live in a world where people experience sickness, pain and death. We were never meant to live in a world where people lie, cheat and steal. We weren't supposed to witness cruelty, hate and murder; yet these seem to be just a part of life.
It is these results of sin that Jesus was referring to when he used the words "
wounded him, leaving him half dead."
Genesis 3:17-19 (NKJV) Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you saying, ‘you shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. (18) Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. (19) In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
When Jesus said that the thieves had wounded this certain man, it’s fairly easy to see the spiritual meaning of these words, based on what happened to man as result of sin.
Adam and all his descendants had become cursed, doomed to experience pain, suffering and all manner of sickness and disease. Our physical bodies were now doomed to grow old, and eventually die.
Man was created in the image of God, which meant that, just as God himself is a triune being, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we too were made triune beings, spirit, soul and body. When God warned Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil, He told Adam, “The day you eat of it, you will surely die,” but Adam didn't fall over, stone dead, the moment he ate the fruit did he?
The fact of the matter is, the moment Adam disobeyed God, he lost the covering of God, and his physical body began for the first time to experience aging. He began to die physically, and because the DNA for all of mankind was stored up in Adam, he condemned all of mankind to death as well.
(Romans 5:12 KJV) Wherefore as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Though Adam's body did not immediately drop over dead, in that moment of disobedience, Adam’s spirit died.
This is a somewhat difficult concept to grasp, since we know that a spirit is eternal and cannot truly die as our earthly bodies can. From the perspective of God however, a spirit can die.
Most everyone is familiar with the phrase “he/she is dead to me.” We hear this phrase when one member of a family, or a close friend, becomes so offended with the actions of another that they disown that person, or disavow any form of relationship to them.
This is a close, though not exact way to think of Adam’s spiritual death, because, the relationship and trust between the LORD and Adam had died.
Using cancer as an analogy may be a good way of understanding spiritual death.
One can think of cancer as a sort of cellular rebellion, cells in rebellion against its’ own body. While cancerous cells are certainly alive, it is a life, which causes death to the host organism.
In much the same way spiritual death is a state of death in the relationship to God, because a spirit in rebellion to God is a spirit, which causes death. This of course, is something which God cannot be in relationship with, because God is life and the source of all life.
Matthew 6:23 (NKJV) But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.
If you take these concepts and apply them to this story, you can readily understand the deeper meaning of the words, wounded him, and left him half dead. When Jesus used the words wounded him, He is clearly talking about all those physical maladies which man is subject to, disease, pain, aging, physical death, etc… all brought about by sin.
When he said, left him half dead, it is easy to understand that he was referring to the spiritual death that took place. Although Adam didn't immediately die, he did die spiritually in that moment (and he began dying physically in that moment as well), the part of his being which was given to Adam to communicate directly with God, was dead.
So now let’s reread this parable inserting the information we have, and see if it makes sense within the context of the lawyer’s question and whether it is a cohesive story, which follows the pattern of the parable of the sower.
A certain man, (Adam) went down (fell) from Jerusalem, (peace with God) to Jericho, (cursed by God) where he fell among thieves, (Satan and his demons) who stripped him of his clothing, (stole his authority, or dominion) wounded him, (caused physical maladies and physical death) and departed leaving him half dead, (spiritually dead).
I think it is obvious we are on track so far, now let’s take a look at the next part of the parable.
Sacrifice and the Tabernacle
(31) “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. (32) “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by on the other side
Even though Adam had sinned and had been thrown out of the Garden of Eden, God is still always yearning to have fellowship with his creation.
The problem is that it can be very dangerous for a perfect, Holy God to come into too much direct contact with his fallen creation. Sometimes the results are disastrous, even lethal.
You can see this in the account of God meeting with his people on Mount Sinai. As God approached the mountain it shook and quaked, and where God’s presence touched the mountain, it was scorched. Because of this the people were terrified, and most would not go up the mountain to speak with God.
Again we see this in the account of Uzzah; Uzzah, along with several others, had been assigned the task of helping to move the Arc of the covenant, from the home of Abinidab, to Jerusalem.
The Ark was never, ever to be touched, because on top of the Ark, between the wings of two golden fashioned Cherubim, resided a flame, which was the very presence of God.
The Ark of the Covenant was to be carried by the Levites, upon staves, or poles.
However, Uzzah (whose name in the Hebrew tongue means, strength,) touched the Ark.
He was trying to steady the Ark, because he thought it was going to fall, and he was instantly, horribly killed. Uzzah tried to carry God's presence, in a way which was displeasing to God, he tried to use his own human strength, (or Uzzah) to support God, and in doing so was disobedient, and was killed by God.
We cannot carry God's presence in our own strength!
These types of frightening things never happened before the fall of man. We know this because God walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve, and no harm came to them or the earth; the difference was the introduction of sin. The awesome perfection of God simply overwhelms and destroys that which is imperfect.
In spite of everything that we had done to anger God and the fact that we could no longer stand unprotected in the perfect, undiminished presence of God, He still desired to be in close relationship and proximity, with man. However, this could only be accomplished by adhering to very stringent guidelines. Blood was required to cover the sin of man, nothing else would do.
Earlier we saw how Adam had hidden himself from God because he said that he was naked. Adam and Eve had covered themselves with leaves, but this attempt at hiding their sin and their shame was ineffective. The problem was that, only blood could cover the stain of sin. And even then, the now imperfect blood of animals could only cover, not remove sin.
Hebrews 10:4 (KJV) for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
God’s remedy for this situation, at least short term, was to kill an animal and use its hide to cover Adam and Eve.
The LORD then taught Adam how to sacrifice animals in order to temporarily cover the stench of sin, so that God could once more have some type of fellowship with man, though not as fully as before the fall.
Adam in turn taught his sons this system of sacrifice which in turn was passed down from generation to generation. This act was performed by the head of each family to cover the sins of their families. Eventually this became the function of priests, who would sacrifice on behalf of an entire nation.
Although the blood of these animals would temporarily cover sin, it was never meant to be a permanent solution, because the animals, like all of creation were imperfect since the fall of mankind. Remember that all of creation was affected by the sin of Adam, so all of creation became imperfect. What was needed was a perfect sacrifice that could forever blot out sin, but there could be no perfect sacrifice found on this imperfect earth.
Therefore the system of sacrifice was to be a stopgap measure, a bandage that could cover the wound, though underneath the wound still festered.
So how does this all fit into the context of our discussion, within the parable of the Good Samaritan?
“Now by chance a certain priest came down that road.
Consider the function of the priest: a priest was a man over the age of thirty, chosen from the tribe of Levi whose main function in life, was to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to God. A priest's job was a very bloody job.
When Jesus spoke the word, priest, he was evoking in the minds of the listeners, the idea of what a priest did, which was, blood sacrifice. The word priest in this story, symbolizes the system of sacrificial offerings to cover sin. We can easily prove this by what the priest in the story did.
And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side
Hebrews 7:11, 14-19 (NKJV) Therefore if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? (14) For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. (15) And it is far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest (16) who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. (17) For He testifies: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (18) For on one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, (19) for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
The priest in the story was a type of the covenant made with Moses. The priest, animal sacrifice, passed by on the other side because he couldn't really help the certain man, Adam, and his descendants. He, the priest, or rather, the system of blood sacrifices, could only be a temporary solution to the problem.
Hebrews 10:11 (KJV) And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin.
There was another priest coming, one after the order of Melchizedek who was to be the permanent solution.
(32) “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by on the other side
Okay, so what about the Levite, who is he in this story? After all I already told you that priests were all Levites; so what is the differentiation?
The tribe of Levi was one of the twelve tribes of Israel which had been handpicked by God, and set apart in order to serve Him. They and their descendants didn't receive an inheritance of land like the rest of the tribes; their inheritance was tied up in their job. They received a portion of each sacrifice offered to God, this way they were always provided for, and this way they were totally dependent on God.
Since there was a need for only so many priests, and yet there were many Levites, what did a Levite who was not a priest, and didn’t own land do for a living?
Remember before I recalled the account of Uzza, who was a Levite, and how he had to carry the Arc of the Covenant? This was only one of their jobs.
Numbers 1:50 (NKJV) “but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle.”
During the meeting on Mount Sinai, God had given the people of Israel several gifts; of these gifts, the one which is relevant to our parable, was the tabernacle.
On the mountain, God showed Moses the design for this tabernacle and how it was to be built.
There are many fascinating things that can be learned about God just by studying the design for this tabernacle; but that is not our purpose. There are however, a few things you need to know about this structure in order to get the meaning that Jesus was driving at in the parable.
The tabernacle was basically a large tent, or series of tents, which could be quickly set up and taken down for moving. It was the job of the Levites to set up, take down and transport this tabernacle.
The tabernacle was designed to house the instruments of sacrifice, including the altar as well as housing the Arc of the Covenant. These were kept in a special part of the tabernacle called The Holy of Holies.
Most importantly, this tabernacle, more specifically in the Holy of Holies, was where the presence of God dwelt. Between the Cherubim on the Arc of the Covenant, which was placed in front of the altar, was where the very Spirit of God dwelt.
This area of the Holy of Holies, was separated from the rest of the tabernacle by a thick heavy curtain, and was accessible only to the High Priest who was covered by the blood of a sacrificed animal.
It was here in this tabernacle, where man could have relatively close contact with the Creator of the universe. It was here that man could worship his creator, where he could speak to God, and God could be together with man. Remember, God longs to be with us, He loves us and like anyone who loves someone very much, He desires above all to be with us.
The problem was, like the system of sacrifice, this was only meant to be a short-term solution. There were many limitations to meeting with God in this way. In the first place, man was still separated by a curtain; otherwise God’s presence would destroy all who got too near. Secondly, the whole system was inconvenient for those who lived far from the Temple which was in the city of Jerusalem, and which was supposed to be the final resting place for the tabernacle.
From God’s perspective, close wasn't close enough, after all, if you truly love someone, you want to be able to touch them, hold them, talk, laugh, and cry with them. It is hard to love from a distance, and never be able to really show your affection.
I am reminded of the question God asked his people long ago “where is the house you will build for me, where will my dwelling place be?” So it was that this tabernacle, which God called home, this place of meeting with God, was never designed to be a permanent dwelling place, He had a better plan, He wanted to dwell within his people, in a “house not built with hands.”
So how does all of this relate to the parable?
(32) “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by on the other side
Jesus used the word Levite to evoke in the minds of the audience, a mental image of the function of a Levite, which was to move and care for the tabernacle, the Temple of God.
The Levite in this story represents the part of the old covenant which provided for the temporary residence of God's presence.
Why did the Levite pass by on the other side? Because the Tabernacle, was only a temporary solution to the problem of God wanting to be intimately close to the creation he made and loved so much.
He had a new and better solution, a new and better covenant in mind, one which involved Him dwelling in us!
(Jeremiah 31:31-33 KJV) Behold the days will come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: (32) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord: (33) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV) Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
(2 Corinthians 6:16 KJV) And what agreement hath the temple of God with Idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God and they shall be my people.
So both the priest and the Levite symbolize types of the old covenant which weren't sufficient to help the wounded man.
Let’s take a look at where we are in this parable.
(30) Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, (KJV says raiment) wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (31) “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. (32) “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by on the other side.
We can re-read the parable this way: (30) Then Jesus answered and said: “Adam fell from a place of peace with God to a place of enmity with God, and fell among Satan and his demons, who stripped him of his authority, caused disease and physical death, and departed, leaving him spiritually dead. “Sacrificial offerings were only a temporary solution. And could only point the way to Messiah (32) “Likewise the Tabernacle, was only a temporary home. God wanted to dwell within us, his people.
Now we get to the best part of the parable, the solution to the problem of sin, the solution to the question of “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
(33) “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion
God’s Solution
John 8:48 (NKJV) Then the Jews answered and said to him, (Jesus) “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
The Samaritans were a people whose land was adjoined with and had once been a part of, Israel; they were a people originally from Babylon, who intermarried with their neighbors, such as the Canaanites and Philistines, and had mixed their ancestral worship of many gods and goddesses, with the worship of the one true God of Israel.
While the Jews all worshiped in the Temple, in Jerusalem, these Samaritans worshiped in the mountains or wherever suited their fancy, and for all these reasons they were utterly despised and rejected by the Jews.
Isaiah 53:3 (NKJV) He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised; and we did not esteem him.
Psalms 69:8, 9 (KJV) I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children. (9) For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me,
These verses in Isaiah and Psalms, are prophecies given long before Jesus' birth regarding the Messiah and how He would be treated on this earth.
Clearly, Jesus is referring to himself when he uses the word Samaritan. After all, hadn't He already been accused of being one? Perhaps Jesus is showing a bit of a sense of irony, or his sense of humor; when referring to himself as the Samaritan.
Although we know that the Lord was truly a Jewish man who could trace His ancestry back to King David, I think that on many levels He could relate to a Samaritan, because, while His own lineage was purely Jewish, there was for Him a real sense of being a mixed race.
Jesus was, and is, God Himself, and yet He had taken on the body of, and become fully human as well.
One can only imagine what it must have felt like for Jesus, who owned and created the entire universe, and yet was not welcomed when He came.
He was the most peculiar mix of races ever seen on this planet, He was all God and all man, and the most wonderful thing is, He still is today.
Even now, seated on the throne of Heaven, He still wears the body of a humble, nail scarred man. He is now our high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek; and He is our perfect intercessor having gone through all the trials and tribulations common to man. He has perfect understanding of what it is to be human.
What a wonderful thought, to know that God isn't some impersonal all powerful being sitting in Heaven waiting to pour out His Judgment and wrath on us every time we slip up. He understands us and is willing and able to love us in our weakness and forgive us our sins.
The Samaritan in this parable is Jesus, but what this Samaritan does is the most truly awesome and fascinating thing.
The Samaritan had compassion on the wounded, half dead man!
(34) “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds,
1 John 3:8 (NKJV) He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
We know that the wounds in this story represent physical sickness and death, so we must assume that the bandage applied to the wound was one designed to break the power of death and disease.
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
The bandage applied to this man was a bandage of grace to the extreme. Jesus took the penalty for our sins, took the certain mans’ wounds to himself, and by doing so broke forever the power of death and sickness over us. He broke forever the power of the devil.
Jesus said that “greater love has no man than that he lay down his life for his friends.” He then showed us that we are his friends, by taking our death and sickness (which was rightfully ours because of sin), and placing them upon himself. Jesus took our penalty and broke the power of death for us.
Now that is compassion!
But the Samaritan (Jesus) didn't just stop there, he didn't just stop the bleeding, he took care of each and every one of the wounded man's problems.
Pouring in oil and wine;
To the Jewish mind, oil represented several things; oil represented joy, and was used for anointing and consecrating both objects and people. Certain oils were also used for medicinal purposes and to keep flies off sheep. Some oils were made to give off a pleasant relaxing odor.
The Lord was very specific in his instructions on how to make oil used for anointing.
Exodus 30:23-25 (KJV) Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels (24) And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive a hin:
Each of the five principle ingredients in the oil used for anointing had a meaning and purpose in and of themselves. Without getting into teachings best reserved for another time, or getting too far off onto rabbit trails, I will briefly mention that each of these ingredients stood for and represented something else, to the Jewish people. And I will also point out again, that there were five (5) ingredients used. Five is considered to be the number of grace.
(John 19:39-40 KJV) And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of Jews is to bury.
As you can see from the above verse, myrrh was used for the embalming of the dead, which speaks of how we ourselves are to be dead to sin and to our fleshly desires. Each of the rest of the ingredients also had a symbolic purpose.
Cinnamon, with its uplifting odor and taste, stands for the refreshing of our spirits, which the anointing brings.
Calamus was a measuring stick, and as such, speaks of holiness, and righteousness which is required of us all and which the anointing of the Spirit of God leads us into.
Cassia leaves, (which are closely related to cinnamon), were believed to contain healing properties, and speaks of the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, to heal our bodies and regenerate our spirit.
Olive oil is used in lamps for illumination, which speaks of the enlightenment the Holy Spirit brings to us. This is the revealed understanding that we receive from the Spirit of God.
And of course, this anointing oil was never to be put on flesh, we are to be dead to our fleshly desires; and we are not to make any counterfeits. There is only one Spirit of the Living God in whom we live and move and have our being.
Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV) “The spirit of God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (2) to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
Notice how the passage opens, with the Spirit of the LORD resting upon the speaker? Oil, when it was used for anointing, was poured upon the head of the person to be anointed, symbolizing the Spirit and power of God resting on that person.
The Holy Spirit could, and sometimes did, rest upon certain select few people, but he did not dwell within them. That is a large distinction.
It is interesting to point out some of the benefits of having this oil poured in.
For one thing, oil would have a soothing, relaxing effect as it would reduce the irritation from the wound.
It would also bring both joy and calmness to the man due to its fragrant odor. The oil would also bring back vitality and strength to this wounded man.
The problem facing the wounded man, is that he is "half dead", he is spiritually dead, and needs to have his spirit brought back to life.
Titus 3:5,6 (KJV) Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (6) Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our savior;
The Lord wanted to go beyond visiting his people from behind a curtain in a temple, he wanted a place built without hands; he wanted to dwell within us. The place where he could do that, (man's spirit) was dead in trespasses, so he needed to bring it back to life.
Ephesians 2:4,5 (KJV) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he hath loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved); (6) and hath raised us up together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
So what the Lord did, by pouring in the oil, was revive, regenerate, quicken, raise, or whatever word you want to use, the man's spirit. This immediately solved both the problem of a half dead, or spiritually dead man, and also, the problem of proximity.
God now had a home, a resting place, built without hands; he could now be closer to us than our skin, he could dwell within mans regenerated spirit.
So the Samaritan (Jesus) regenerated the man's spirit, by pouring out his own.
Now, the wine that this Samaritan poured in would have many of the same qualities as the oil. Consider the properties of wine and you will see what I mean.
For one thing, alcohol, which is found in wine, is used in hospitals everywhere as an antiseptic, its properties cleanse wounds and sterilize them by destroying bacteria, which cause infections.
People also use wine in celebrations, to add joy to their parties. In fact it was no coincidence that Jesus' first recorded miracle was turning water into wine.
The thing which we most often associate with wine, is blood.
1 Corinthians 11:25 (NKJV) In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
The biggest problem with the certain man who was wounded was the problem of sin. Remember we said that the system of animal sacrifice was only a temporary solution, because a perfect sacrifice was needed to truly remove forever the stain of sin. Since there could be no perfect sacrifice found on earth, God Himself had to make a way.
Romans 5:8, 9 (NKJV) But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) In him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
The wine that this Samaritan (Jesus) poured in was his very own blood. Because Jesus was from God and was God; and because He lived a perfect life, He was able to be the perfect sacrifice for us.
How incredible that God wanted to have a relationship with his sinful, rebellious creation so badly, that He was willing to sacrifice Himself for us.
The book of Hebrews best summarizes my point in all of this.
Hebrews 9:11-15 (NKJV) (11) But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is not made of this creation. (12) Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (13) For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, (14) how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (15) And for this reason He is the mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Where the priest (blood sacrifices) and Levite (the Tabernacle) were only meant to be temporary solutions, the oil (regenerating power of God's Spirit) and wine (The blood of Jesus) were a new and eternal covenant.
Where the law of the old covenant could only point to the fact that we are sinners, the compassion and grace of Jesus allows for the total forgiveness of sin.
So the priest and Levite of the old covenant passed by on the other side of the road, to make way for the Samaritan, who would regenerate the man’s spirit, back to life with his oil, and would cleanse the man’s sin with his wine, but there was still one thing lacking. While the oil and wine solved the problems of sin and separation from God, there was still the matter of stolen authority.
and he set him on his own animal,
Imagine for a moment that you are a Jew living at the time of Jesus. Your country that you live in is a very small strip of fertile land surrounded by vast deserts and wilderness.
Most likely you are a farmer by trade, but even if you are not a farmer, you are probably involved in an occupation which requires heavy lifting or travel. Everyone knows that farm work, is very difficult work, far more difficult during the time of Jesus than it is today.
Whatever line of work you were in, the product you produced had to be brought to market; this required travel, and to travel over the terrain of that land, was a dangerous proposition at best.
Now think about how much time and energy you could save, and how much safer traveling would be, by implementing the use of an animal. Whether it was an ox, a donkey, a horse, or some other beast of burden; simply by having the animal help in your efforts, you could achieve your goals so much more easily.
To an Israelite, an animal was a symbol of wealth, and power. An animal was something which could enable you to be far more efficient and productive than you could be in your own strength.
Often times, using the strength of an animal was the only possible way to accomplish the task at hand. An animal enabled you to do things that were otherwise impossible.
Whether the animal was used for transportation, or for labor, that animal represented power. Even today we refer to our internal combustion engines as having a certain amount of horsepower.
Mankind had once been given dominion over all the earth, with this kind of authority and power, there was virtually nothing he could not accomplish.
Now, this certain man was lying on the roadside; with no authority, powerless to even help himself up.
So what does the Samaritan do? He sets him on his own animal.
In other words, He sets the man and carries him on His own source of power, his own authority.
Matthew 28:18 (NKJV) And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, “All authority has been given to me in Heaven and on earth.
Matthew 18:18 (NKJV) “Assuredly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.
John 16:23 (NKJV) “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the father in my name He will give to you.
The thing that really excites me is where Jesus got this power and authority from. Keep in mind that Satan had stolen the authority which had once been Adam's, it was now Satan’s, and he wasn't about to give it up without a fight.
In order to get back this authority, Jesus had to confront the devil on his own turf. The Bible tells us that Jesus spent three days in the grave, during this time he took captivity captive, and snatched the keys of death and Hell from Satan’s hand.
Revelations 1:18 (NKJV) I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and death.
The Bible tells us that Jesus defeated Satan, and made a public display of him, thereby taking for Himself the authority that had been given to man. For this reason the Apostle Paul refers to Jesus as the second Adam.
In other words, God became a man, and as a man had the right to claim the authority which had been given to Adam. So He forcefully took it from Satan, and then gave it back to us.
Now let’s place what we have uncovered into the parable to see if it still makes sense.
(30) Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, (KJV says raiment) wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (31) “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. (32) “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked 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. (34) “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal,
We can reread it this way (30) Then Jesus answered and said: “Adam rebelled, and fell from a place of peace with God to a place of enmity with God, and fell among Satan and his demons, who stripped him of his authority, caused disease and physical death, and departed, leaving him spiritually dead. “Sacrificial offerings were only a temporary solution, and could only point the way to Messiah (32) “Likewise the Tabernacle, was only a temporary home. (33) “But Jesus left Heaven on a mission to earth driven by his great compassion. (34) “So he went to him, and broke the curse of sickness and death from his life, He did this by regenerating the man's spirit, and by cleansing the man's sin with His own blood. Then he gave him his own authority and power to use.
The words brought him to an inn, and took care of him, have always reminded me of the 23rd Psalm.
Psalm 23 1-6 (KJV) The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. (3) He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. (4) Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me; they rod and thy staff they comfort me. (5) thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. (6) surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Though this man's spirit has been regenerated by the oil, his sins have been cleansed by the wine, and he has been given control of the same power the Samaritan used; the man's soul has not yet been addressed. .
Also, it was not enough to just leave the man in the road, he had to be brought out of the danger and brought into a place of safety.
The words brought him to an inn, speak to the fact that we who believe are called out of the world, we are called with a high calling.
John 15 16-19 (KJV) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he will give it you. (17) These things I command you, that ye love one another. (18) If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (19) If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
We have been brought out of the world and set in the cleft of the rock that is Christ Jesus; we are called according to his purposes with a high calling.
The words took care of him, has so much spiritual meaning that it is quite literally impossible to touch on all that entails. In fact, the Apostle Paul tells us we will spend all of eternity learning of the riches of his grace toward us who believe. Still, I will elaborate on a few points, that I feel must be touched on here.
As I mentioned before, up to this point in the story, the Samaritan who is Jesus, has taken care of each and every single problem that was caused at the fall of mankind, except that part of us which we call our soul.
Earlier in this book, I said that the human is made up of three parts, reflecting the triune being that God himself is. We are spirit, soul (which is mind, will and emotions) and body. And it is in that soul, in our mind and will and emotions which is where the battlefield is, it is for our souls, that we fight.
The Lord sovereignly restored our spirit in the day we first believed, but our minds are often, still carnal, as Romans 12:2 says.
Romans 12:2 (KJV) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
It is incumbent upon us to take the precious gift of salvation, which was placed within our spirit, and work it out throughout our soul, our mind and will and emotions, as well.
Philippians 2:12 (KJV) Wherefore my beloved as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
This is not saying that by our own works we can become saved, but rather that, the salvation which was placed within our spirits can be, and must be worked out throughout our mind, will and emotions as well. We must take the gift of salvation placed within us, within our spirit, and work it out, like a potter works out the imperfections in the clay.
We are able to do this because within our spirits the Lord has placed his own Holy Spirit, and has put into us every single thing we need to renew our souls unto salvation.
2 Peter 1:3 (KJV) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.
1 Peter 1:13, 22-23 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (22) Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
So, it is through the spirit that we fight to purify our own souls.
This is why the Lord has given us spiritual weapons, not so that we can be well dressed spiritually, but so that we can fight for the territory of our own souls.
One more point I would like to make about the words took care of him, is that, when the LORD takes care of us, he takes care of us completely! When the LORD said that "it is finished", he meant it. There was nothing left to be done for mankind, he paid the bill in full, in his completed work on the cross.
We can see this beautifully illustrated in the different types of covenants and covenant seals that were used historically throughout the world. Jesus fulfilled each and every covenant type that was used historically, in one single moment of time, on the cross.
There were many different ways that people historically used to make, and to seal a covenant.
The most widely used type of covenant was to take an animal or animals and cut it in half, placing the pieces far enough apart that people could walk between the pieces, while reciting the terms of the covenant.
By using this divided flesh and blood covenant, what they were saying in essence is, if I fail to keep the terms of this deal, may what happened to this animal, happen to me. May the same fate which befell this animal, befall me.
Gen 15:9,10,17 (KJV) And he said unto him, take me a heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. (10) And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds he divided he not. (17) And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Notice that number five (5) again? Here again you see the number of grace, the number of Jesus the son of God.
Just when Abraham thought that this covenant would be about him, the Lord put him to sleep; and we see a smoking furnace, who is God the father, with the smoke of his glory, and a burning lamp, who is Jesus the Son, the light of the world, and the oil within the lamp and the fire is the Holy Spirit.
Instead of Abraham walking between the pieces, it was the Lord himself who walked between, walking out the covenant between father and son, for the man Abraham.
I don't know what was said, but I can imagine the terms of the covenant must have sounded much like Isaiah 53:5; I can almost hear the LORD speaking with himself, the smoking furnace saying, "The man has been wounded, and cursed with sin and disease and death." The burning lamp saying "I will be wounded for their transgressions, they can bruise my body for their iniquities, the chastisement of their peace will be upon me, and by the stripes on my body they will be healed!"
This was a promise given to Abraham, a promise that through Abraham's lineage would come the Messiah, the savior of the world, the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
Matt 27:51 (KJV) And behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake and the rocks rent;
Hebrews 10:16-20 (KJV) This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; (17) And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (18) Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. (19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (20) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
So the veil that hung in the temple, dividing the holy of holies from the outer court, was the flesh of God, and Jesus divided the veil, which was his flesh, and walked between the veil into the Holy of Holies, and placed upon the altar, his very own blood, for the cleansing of all of man’s sins.
Another common way of making a covenant, was the exchange of covenant clothing and weapons.
1 Sam 18:3-4 (KJV) Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. (4) And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.
Isaiah 61:10 (KJV) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
2Corinthians 6:7 (KJV) By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and the left,
Eph 6:11 (KJV) Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
When we come to the cross and lay down our own righteousness, which is as filthy rags, the Lord dresses us in the robes of righteousness, and he gives to us, all the weapons we will need to conquer the enemy, and to take back that which was stolen from us.
Another way that people used to make a covenant was the covenant meal. It was for this reason that the Jews were not allowed to eat with Gentiles, so as not to get into covenant with unbelievers, those not under the law.
Gen 14:18 (KJV) And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Matt 26:26-29 (KJV) And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take eat, this is my body".
The symbolism within the Jewish Passover meal is something which each and every person should really see for themselves.
Once you have participated in a Passover sader, and have seen the second of three pieces of Matzo (unleavened) bread, called the affekomen, which is not only pierced and bruised looking, but is broken, placed into a linen cloth, and hidden (buried), and then later retrieved from its hiding place and eaten; you will immediately understand why the Lord Jesus, said of that piece, of the affekomen, to take and eat, that it was his body.
One type of covenant, was used to show the length of the terms; it was the planting of the covenant tree or grove. By planting a tree, or a grove of trees, a person said basically, that so long as this tree or grove is planted, the terms of this covenant remains intact.
Gen 21:32-33 (KJV) Thus they made a covenant at Beer-sheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. (33) And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.
Judges 6:25 (KJV) And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, take thy fathers young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it.
Matthew 27:35-37 (KJV) And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. (36) And sitting down they watched him there; (37) and set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
So Jesus planted an everlasting covenant tree, his own cross; and in so doing also became a curse for us, since it is written in Deuteronomy 21:23, that cursed is any man who hangs from a tree.
A covenant was often sealed in some fashion. For example, sometimes a covenant would be sealed by pressing a signet or ring bearing the family crest or something similar, into hot wax.
The LORD set his rainbow in the sky, as a seal to the covenant he made with Noah, to never again flood all the earth.
Under the new covenant, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
Gen 9:11-13 (KJV) And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. (12) And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: (13) I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Ephesians 1:13 (KJV) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise
All those things which the Samaritan, (Jesus did for the certain man, were sealed as a promise, when he sent his Holy Spirit to live within the regenerated spirit of men. All of the promises made in the new covenant are sealed by the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
Salt was added to covenant offerings, for the same reason that people added salt to meat for eating. The salt was used to add flavor, and to keep it from spoiling.
Much like planting a tree was symbolic of the length of time that a covenant would be enforced, salt added to a covenant, was adding time to the covenant, by keeping it from spoiling.
Lev 2:13 (KJV) And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.
Matt 5:13 (KJV) Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
It is precisely because those who believe in and follow after Jesus Christ, are the salt of the earth, that when we are taken home to be with the Lord, those who are left behind, will face terrible days. It is us Christians, who are the salt, keeping this world from spoiling completely. We are, as Jesus said, the light of the world, and we are keeping the darkness at bay, so long as we remain.
With certain types of covenants, there was also an exchange of names. For example, when a man and woman are married, it is customary for the woman to take the man's last name as her own. This is because it is a form of a covenant seal.
Abram, and Sarai, became Abra(h)am and Sara(h) after entering into covenant with God, or YHWH. So the (h) in Y(H)W(H) became a part of the name of Abra(h)am and Sara(h).
Likewise, we are now called Christians, because we are called after his name.
There is nothing left to be paid, Jesus paid the bill in full, on the cross. Each and every type of covenant that was used by men, was in one moment of time fulfilled by Jesus Christ, on the cross.
It is little wonder that John said that if the things done by Jesus were written in books, the whole earth couldn't contain them all.
So let's see if we are still on track with this parable.
(30) Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (31) “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. (32) “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked 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. (34) “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
We can reread it this way (30) Then Jesus answered and said: “Adam rebelled, and fell from a place of peace with God to a place of enmity with God, and fell among Satan and his demons, who stole his dominion and authority, caused disease and death, and left him spiritually dead. “Sacrificial offerings were only a temporary solution, and could only point the way to Messiah (32) “Likewise the Tabernacle, was only a temporary home. (33) “But Jesus left Heaven on a mission to earth driven by his great compassion. (34) “So he went to him, and broke the curse of sickness and death from his life, He regenerated the man's spirit, and cleansed the man's sin with His own blood. Then he gave him his own authority and power to use, called him with a high calling, and restored his soul.
It looks like we are still on track, so let's continue to the last portion of the parable, the grand conclusion to the story; On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you
On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii,
A denarii, or a pence, was usually thought of as one days pay, so of course, two denarii would make two days’ pay that the Samaritan took out and gave to the innkeeper.
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the LORD as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
There have been roughly, just over two thousand years since the LORD ascended into Heaven, and left us in the care of the Holy Spirit, which we call the church age. If there were two days’ worth of wages paid, and each day is equivalent to one thousand years, that makes a two thousand year period, which Jesus has paid for.
Since he said, whatever more you spend, it allows for, and indicates that perhaps a few extra years past the two thousand year time frame may be needed. So it doesn't have to be exactly two thousand years before he returns, but a little past that.
Since we have gone past that two thousand years down payment, and are into the whatever more you spend period of time, it may be wishful thinking on my part, but it would seem that, Christ's return for his bride must now be very soon!
gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him;
The Samaritan, who is Jesus turned over the care of the man, to someone else, someone he trusted to continue to care for the man whom he had invested so much into; it could only be the third person of the triune Godhead, the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16 (NKJV) “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, that He may abide with you forever.
John 14:26 (NKJV) “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
The Lord didn't leave us alone, as a matter of fact, he now lives within us, and has promised that he will never leave us or forsake us!
And finally, when I come again, I will repay you
He is coming back!
John 14:2-3 (KJV) In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my father only.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (KJV) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
It is a sad thing that so much of the Christian Church has lost touch with its Jewish roots! If only we would re-dig some of those old wells, we would find that there are so many treasures, just waiting to be unearthed, in the old Jewish traditions!
If you are Jewish, or are familiar with ancient Jewish wedding traditions, you may understand the symbolism in the two scriptures quoted above; the wording was intended to remind the reader of ancient Jewish wedding traditions.
When a Jewish man living in the time of Jesus, wanted to marry, traditionally, he would do a very prudent thing. After getting the consent of the future bride and her father, the now officially engaged man would begin to work on building a house, a home fit for his bride.
This man, would then continue to build the home, until his father said that everything was in order. He would not stop building, until his father gave the approval.
Once his father saw that the son had built everything that he would need to raise a family, then he would tell his son, that he could go get his bride.
I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my father only.
Once the father gave the consent, the man would then gather his groomsmen together, and set out to collect his bride.
The wedding party would stealthily approach the home of the bride, then the groom would give a shout, and someone from the party would blow a shofar, (a ram’s horn, translated in the Bible as trumpet).
They would then rush in and like a thief in the night, they would pick up the bride, and carry her away to her new, fully finished home.
2 Peter 3:10A But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (KJV) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
So now let's finish this puzzle we've started. Let’s place the meanings of the key words into the parable and see if it lines up with the truth of God's word.
(Luke 10:25-36 NKJV) And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (26) He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” (27) So he answered and said, “You shall 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.” (28) And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” (29) But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (30) Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man Adam went down rebelled and fell from Jerusalem Peace with God to Jericho cursed by God and fell among thieves, Satan and demons who stripped him of his clothing, stole his authority wounded him, caused death and sicknesses and departed, leaving him half dead. Spiritually dead in sin (31) “Now by chance a certain priest down that road. God allowed the blood of animals to cover sin And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Sacrificial offerings were a temporary solution (32) “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, God's presence dwelt in the Tabernacle, separated from mankind came and looked and passed by on the other side. God was separated from man and wanted a home built without hands (33) “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. Jesus left his throne and came to earth on a mission of mercy (34) “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, broke the power of sin and death pouring in oil His Spirit and wine; His blood and he set him on his own animal, gave us his authority and power brought him to an inn, and took care of him. brought us out of the world, and restored our souls (35) “On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, two days wages, (two thousand years) gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him; paid the bill in full on the cross, went back to heaven and gave us the Holy Spirit and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ He is coming back to claim his bride (36) “So which of these three do you think was the neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
So now we can re-read this parable this way:
Luke 10:25-36 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (26) He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” (27) So he answered and said, “You shall 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.” (28) And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” (29) But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (30) Then Jesus answered and said: “Adam rebelled and went from a place of peace with God to enmity, and fell among Satan and his demons, who stripped him of his authority and dominion; sin caused death and disease, and left him spiritually dead." (31) “God allowed animal sacrifice to cover sin. But it couldn't completely cleanse sin." (32) “God's presence dwelt in the Tabernacle, but he wanted a home built without hands." (33) “But Jesus, the Messiah, left Heaven and came to Earth, on a mission of mercy." (34) “So he broke the power of sin and revived mankind’s spirit, by pouring in his own Spirit and his blood; and he gave mankind his own authority, and brought those who believe in him, out of the world and restored their souls. (35) “After his death and resurrection he went back to heaven, first paying the brides dowry, and giving believers the Holy Spirit, to teach them and guide them in all things; and after a little over two thousand years, he will come back to take his bride home." (36) “So which of these three do you think was the neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
Copyright Broken Soldiers Ministries
