Why Didn’t They Stop? Parable of the Good Samaritan

[Garland-Green]

April 4, 2012
Why Didn’t They Stop? Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Parable of the Good Samaritan
Andy Rau -Senior manager of content for Bible Gateway.



The day before Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, he delivered his last speech to a crowd of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.
The address is known as the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, and like many King speeches and sermons, it illustrates his knack for taking famous Bible stories and brushing off the dust of over-familiarity that has settled on them. In this speech, he looks to the well-known story of the “Good Samaritan.”

Do you know this story of the Good Samaritan? It’s one of Jesus’ parables. Here it is:

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” — Luke 10:30-37

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[cristobela]

edited to add Jn 4:21-22

I never saw that element in the parable before idea ("the Bloody Pass", how dangerous the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was. Though clearly the Samaritan got mugged, danger alert). wahmbulance

But as true as it is that we don't stop helping just because it's a dangerous place, it's also true that we're told to be prudent because there will be wolves—those seeking to eat our flesh, prey on us, profit at our demise and ruin, even violently seeking our death so that they can profit. Delicate balance. May God give us the discernment to know the difference.

• Matthew 10:16 (NIV)
  
  16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

I just figured that you seek the well-being of everyone, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or how wrong about God they are.

• John 4:21-22 (NIV)
  
  21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.