Martineau (J.), National Duties, 173.
Mellor (E.), The Hem of Christ's Garment, 177.
Meyer (F. B.), The SouVs Pure Intention, 191.
Paget (F.), Studies in the Christian Character, 221.
Parker (J.), The Gospel of Jesus Christ, 88.
Peck (G. C.), Vision and Task, 259.
Pulsford (J.), Loyalty to Christ, ii. 32.
Smith (J.), Short Studies : The Gospels, 16.
Snell (B. J.), Sermons on Immortality, 79.
Townsend (W. J.), in The Pa/rables of Jesus, 287.
Tuckwell (W.), Nuggets from the Bible Mine, 154.
Walker (G. S.), The Pictures of the Divine Artist, 105.
Webster (F. S.), My Lord and I, 110.
Westcott (B. F.), Village Sermons, 343.
Whyte (A.), Our Lord's Characters, 231.
Wilmot-Buxton (H. J.), By Word and Deed, ii. 114.
Christian World Pulpit, xxxviii. 305 (F. W. Farrar) ; xxxix. 173
(F. 0. Morris); xl. 76 (F. C. Hill); Ii. 52 (J. Bush); Uv. 145
(H. Scott Holland) ; 212 (R. F. Horton). Contemporary Pulpit, 2nd Ser., iv. 95 (T. Guthrie). Guardian, July 15, 1910, p. 982 (W. Boyd Carpenter). Preacher's Magazine, xxiii. 161 (W. J. C. Pike).
The Good Samaritan.
And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.— Luke x. 37.
The story of the good Samaritan is one of our Lord's greatest and most typical parables. It is so simple that a child can read its meaning; yet it is in truth a treatise on practical ethics more profound in thought and more powerful in effect than any other in the world. Is it too much to say that in these few verses there is contained the essential truth of man's relations with his fellow-men ? Our very familiarity with the parable blinds us to the greatness of its mingled simplicity and depth and — let us add — to the greatness of the claim which it makes upon us.^
T[ As we grow older and as things change around us, the old becomes ever new. We look upon the record from a different point of sight, and the parts group themselves together in new combinations. We look upon it in a new light, and what perhaps we had not noticed before grows radiant with unexpected bright- ness. It is so with the parable now before us. I suppose that we can never read it thoughtfully without finding some fresh power in it to meet new circumstances ; and at the same time the central truths of the Divine narrative always rise sharp and clear before us to crown each special lesson which it supplies.2
In order to understand the parable we must first of all under- stand the question with which the lawyer came to Jesus and His reply. Then will follow the truths taught in the parable itself. When we understand the parable we shall see the meaning and feel the force of the exhortation contained in the text.
^ Archbishop C. G. Lang, The Parables of Jesus, 128. 2 Bishop B. F. Westcott, Village Sermons, 342.
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I
198 THE GOOD SAMARITAN
The First Question and its Answer.
The lawyer put two questions to Christ. The first question he came for the purpose of asking, the second he found himself compelled to ask.
1. Christ was in Capernaum. And while He was there a certain lawyer stood up and tempted Him, saying, " Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? " This lawyer was not a lawyer in our acceptation of the name; he was a man versed in the precepts and ceremonies of the Mosaic law, and also in the com- mandments and traditions with which meddling priests and scribes had thickly incrusted that law until it became a burden too heavy to be borne. He stood up before the Saviour to tempt Him. The word clearly shows — for its meaning is always a bad one in the New Testament — that his aim was not to elicit truth but to lay a trap for Christ, to entangle Him in His talk. He was a type of the captious critic, whom you can still find in every street and lane of the city. Nothing could be more solemn and profound than his question ; and nothing more unseemly and self- defeating than the spirit in which it was propounded.
^ He who came to sneer may have departed to pray. Many an incautious seeker has found more than he really sought. The light of conviction has broken in upon men who were not even honest in their doubt. Paul was never more furious against Jesus than on the day of his conversion. More than one scoffer has gone to church to ridicule his wife's religion and has gone home to beseech his wife's God for mercy. One of the most remarkaljle preachers of early Methodism was converted at a meeting which he attended solely for the purpose of breaking it up. He meant to drive out the preacher, but the truth hooked in his soul. Contest against truth is never hopeful. The keenest blade is soft metal against the *' sword of the Spirit." God is a terrible antagonist. So, however bitter or cynical the spirit of this lawyer may have been, I am confident he carried away in his soul the barb of conviction.^
(1) The question is one which has been asked many times, springing to the heart and to the lips of many people, distressed