Pentecost Week Fifteen - Day Three - Looking the Other Way

Day 2: Looking the Other Way

New Testament: Luke 10:31-33
Old Testament: Hosea 6:6

Most everyone knows this part of the story – how the two men walked pass the injured man and the third one renders aid.  But it’s worth hanging out here in these verses just a bit to see what else we can learn.

As we will see – each person in this story has their own motive for their actions.

Don't we all!

Historical Context

The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was dangerous. A barren, winding path where robbers waited to strike. And here, on this cursed road, a man was ambushed. Stripped. Beaten. Left half-dead in the dirt— clinging to life.

First came the priest. A man of God, a keeper of the Law. He knew the Scriptures by heart: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He knew God’s command to care for the afflicted, to rescue the weak and the needy. But when he saw the man lying there—broken and bleeding—he crossed to the other side.

This wasn’t ignorance. He saw the man. He looked at him and made a choice. He chose his own convenience over compassion, his own safety over sacrifice. The one who should have been the first to stop walked away.

Then came the Levite. Another man of the temple. He, too, was charged with serving God and His people. He came closer than the priest, close enough to see the blood, the wounds, the helplessness. He had no excuse—no ritual law forbade him from helping.

And yet, he, too, stepped to the other side of the road. He saw the suffering and turned his back on it.

Two men, entrusted with God’s work, who claimed to know His heart, failed. They failed the man on the road. They failed God.

Then came the most unlikely person.
“But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.”

To Jesus’ audience, this was scandalous. Jews and Samaritans hated one another.

The history went back centuries, to when the Samaritans intermarried with foreigners and rejected Jerusalem’s temple, creating their own rival faith.

To the Jews, they were traitors, outsiders, and heretics—unclean in every way. Jews wouldn’t speak to Samaritans, wouldn’t walk through their land, wouldn’t even drink from their cups.

And yet, Jesus says, it’s the Samaritan who stops. The one considered unclean. The one despised by all. You can almost here the audience's teeth grinding!

The Samaritan sees the same broken man, the same suffering, the same need. But unlike the priest and the Levite, he doesn’t look away.

He takes pity on him.

Pity. That’s the key. The priest had the Law. The Levite had knowledge. But the Samaritan—the one everyone hated—felt a call of compassion - the text called it "pity."

He didn’t just see the man’s suffering. He felt it. And that made all the difference.

Modern Context
We’d all like to believe we’re not like the priest or the Levite—that we’d stop and help someone in need. But how often do we justify looking the other way? Especially in the little things we know are not what God would ask us to do.

Maybe we say, I don’t have time, or It’s too dangerous, or Someone else will step in. Maybe we question if the person deserves help: What if they brought this on themselves?

These justifications feel logical in the moment, but they reveal the same heart problem that Jesus exposed in His audience.  

I think the key in that last statement was – in the moment. For many people, we live in moments of decisions, not necessarily to a fully defined value system.

The Samaritan challenges us to move beyond excuses. True compassion isn’t safe, convenient, or easy—it’s costly. It asks us to risk comfort and security to meet the needs of others. Jesus’ parable calls us to examine our hearts, confront our biases, and let God’s boundless love shape how we respond to those around us.

The question isn’t “Who is my neighbor?” It’s “What kind of neighbor am I?”

Reflection
Jesus calls us to love in a way that transcends boundaries, prejudices, and excuses. Imagine what your life would look like if you embraced that kind of love.

Prayer
Lord Jesus,
Thank You for teaching us what it means to love without limits.
Forgive us for the times we look the other way, for the excuses we make, and for the boundaries we place on compassion.
Open our eyes to the needs around us, and soften our hearts to respond with action.
Help us to see others as You see them—with dignity, worth, and value.
Teach us to be neighbors to everyone we encounter, and empower us by Your Spirit to love boldly, freely, and sacrificially.
May our lives reflect Your boundless love, and may we glorify You in how we serve and care for others.
Amen.