Wounded But Not Dead: Don’t Let Them Die

Trevor S. Ferguson 

November 9, 2013

Luke 10:30-35 (KJV)
³⁰And 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. ³¹And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³²And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. ³³But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, ³⁴And 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. ³⁵And 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.

INTRODUCTION

We live in a self-centered society. Most people today are concerned only with their own issues and problems and seem unconcerned about other people’s suffering and are often unwilling to help.

The problem spans all facets of life. The rich and well-to-do are unconcerned with the problems of the poor. This has resulted in the creation of, as it were, two separate societies – ‘the haves’ and the ‘have nots’. This lack of concern contributes to problem of crime and violence as many who are disadvantaged believe the cause of their problems is somehow the fault of the advantaged groups.

Then there is the problem of emotional and psychological abuse. People often treat each other with disrespect, doing anything to protect their space or their turf, regardless of how it makes others feel. Where relationships are concerned, people are often interested only in their own pleasure and therefore use others, getting involved in multiple relationships, cheating and deceiving. The end result of all this is that we have a hurting society. Many people are bruised, wounded and barely existing. There is no joy in their lives. Some are depressed and dysfunctional some are even contemplating suicide.

Unfortunately the church is not exempt from these issues. Many of the wounded come through our doors on a daily basis, but sadly sometimes they leave the same way they came. Today we want to minister to those who are wounded and are hurting. I will use the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate some important principles relating to how people end up wound and what we need to do in order to demonstrate our care.

EXPOSITION

The story of the Good Samaritan is well known. Jesus told this parable when an expert in the law asked him the question: Who is my neighbor?

The first point I would like to emphasize is the circumstances under which the traveler in the story got wounded.  We are told that this traveler went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a major thoroughfare in New Testament times and hence we can assume that the traveler had legitimate business in Jericho. We can therefore conclude that it was during the course of his normal business that traveler fell among thieves, who stripped him, wounded him and left him half-dead!

Similarly today many people in the course of their normal daily living fall into problems.  Let us take a minute to examine the issue of falling. The normal human posture is upright; therefore to fall implies a loss of normal posture as well as loss of normal control. Falls may be accidental, due to obstacles on the road, or may be due to careless walking and not looking where we are going or may be due to the action of others who may deliberately attack us or in some other way instigate a fall. Sometimes when we fall we can get us by ourselves, but there are times when the injuries are so severe that we need help to get back on our feet. The inability to get up may be due to the fall itself or it may be due to the issues and problems that preceded the fall. Regardless of the cause of the fall, persons who have fallen and are unable to get up need help!

This was the state of the traveler in the parable, but unfortunately the first two perosns that came by were unwilling to help. A priest came by, saw him but passed on the other side. A Levite came by; he stopped to have a look, but still walked away on the other side. Commentators have posited that these might have thought that the man was dead and did not want to become ‘unclean’ by handling a dead body, but this does not excuse their duty to care, even at the cost of temporary ‘uncleanness’.

The attitude of the priest and Levite is all too common in the church today. Many of us will see our brothers and sisters in need, wounded, hurt, frustrated but do not offer a helping hand. How many persons have died spiritually because there was no one to help in their time of need? We cannot afford to perpetuate this callous attitude. We must begin to care!

The attitude of the Samaritan stands in stark contrast to the presumably righteous priest and Levite. Let’s look at the approach and attitude of the Samaritan, because I believe that he demonstrates for us a lesson in caring. Firstly when he saw the wounded man he had compassion on him – he immediately saw himself lying on the ground; on another day or another time it could have been him. He was touched, he was moved. He cared! Secondly, he went to him – we can’t care from a distance! We have to get close to the person in need in order to help. People in caring professions know that this is necessary. A doctor must examine his patient. A nurse will need to bathe, clean up the patient, take care of bodily waste etc, all in an attempt to help. There is always a risk that the caregiver may catch the sick person’s illness but we still have to care. Caring will almost always lead to some contamination but the joy of the person being restored to full health makes it a risk worth taking.

The lesson in caring continues with how he attended to the injuries of the wounded man – he poured in oil and wine, covered the wounds, and then he placed him on his own beast and brought him to an inn. This illustrates the need to offer immediate care, deal with the pressing problems and prevent further injury or complication as well as the need to have a place to recuperate. It is not sufficient to put ‘band-aid’ on the problems. We must also make provision for proper healing.

Finally he paid the inn-keeper, enough to cover the immediate expenses and made a commitment to take care of any additional expenses. This illustrates to us that caring has a cost. As much as is possible, if we have the ability to help with the cost of recovery we must help.

APPLICATION & CONCLUSION

The text today reminds us of the urgent need to care for those who are wounded or hurting. I believe that there are several persons today who are hurting, wounded and in need of help. I believe the Lord wants to minister to you today. You may be wounded and hurting, perhaps even half-dead, but the fact is you are not dead. Once there is life there is hope. We won’t let you die! Jesus is passing by you right now. Allow him to minister to you. He will pour in the oil and wine, bind up your hurts and set you on your feet again. He has already paid the price. Receive your healing right now!