On Being a Good Samaritan

September 16, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
As you have probably figured out by now, I am an avid fan of Robert Capon’s writings, so without apology, I offer this as another example of his ability [Kingdom, Grace, Judgment” p. 213-214]: “For if the world could have been saved by providing good examples to which we could respond with appropriately good works, it would have been saved an hour and twenty minutes after Moses came down from Mr. Sinai. ‘For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe’ (Galatians 3:21-22 KJV). Do you see the problem? Salvation is not some felicitous state to which we can lift ourselves by our own bootstraps after the contemplation of sufficiently good examples. It is an utterly new creation into which we are brought by our death in Jesus’ death and our resurrection in His. It comes not out of our own efforts, however well-inspired or successfully pursued, but out of the shipwreck of all human effort whatsoever.”
Capon wrote this in reference to his treatment of the passage we know as the story of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37). Among other things, he is attempting to show that the main character in this story (parable) is not the good Samaritan, but the man who found himself in the ditch and half-dead. In other words, the example we need to follow is not the one of the Good Samaritan, but the one of the half-dead man in the ditch, who was helpless to help himself.
You see, if we are not careful (and most of us are not, when it comes to theology), we will find ourselves placing the Samaritan on a pedestal, and believing, much like the Galatians, that Jesus is essential, but our good deeds are also necessary for our salvation. The fact is this: Our good deeds are like filthy rags! “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; . . .” (Isaiah 64:6a NASB).
Just as a reminder, both the priest and the Levite saw the man in the ditch as being unclean—spiritually and physically—which is why they conveniently pass on by him. It never dawned upon them that the man they saw in the ditch was really themselves.
It is also noteworthy that Jesus offered this parable in response to the Lawyer’s question, “Who is my neighbor?”, and He ended it with this question: “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands”? In other words, Jesus placed the lawyer in the ditch, in an effort to help him understand his desperate need for Someone, namely the One who was speaking to him, to do for him what he could never do for himself!
Unfortunately, I don’t think he ever got the message.
Sadly, from what I can see, even today, most never get the message.
For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law, but. . .