Luke 10:29–37: “But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man, he passed by on the other side. So too a Levite, when he came up to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring olive oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, “Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.” Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ The expert in religious law said, ‘The one who showed mercy to him.’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’”

I am going to begin a series on the good neighbor. I want to tell you my conclusion before I even start: Jesus Christ is the good neighbor. I just want to go through this passage. I do not know how long I will be able to do it justice, but we see a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and we do not need to make so much of the journey. It is simply something that people can identify with.

We do not need to make so much of what “Jericho” is or what “Jerusalem” is. Jesus is simply saying someone is going from one place to another, using this as an illustration. Sometimes we are distracted by some of the details when Jesus Christ is just giving us a parable. We are supposed to be captured by the overall theme, not so much the tiny little details.

In my estimation, this “Jerusalem to Jericho” is just two cities. People make journeys. So let us not make too much of the fact that he is going “down.” It is just geography. People go down, go up, go sideways. It is geography. Jesus Christ is telling you, “I know My geography.” Jerusalem is in an upper location; if you want to go to Jericho, you have to go down. So it is just geography. Let us not make a spiritual meaning out of it. That is what I am saying.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead.” This is the story of humanity. I do not need to go into the details of that now, because I want to focus on the good neighbor—Jesus Christ.

A man. Something happened. He is half dead, stripped, has lost everything.

Verse 31: “Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man, he passed by on the other side.” You do not need to psychoanalyze the priest, as if we know exactly why he did not want to help him. You also do not need to psychoanalyze Jesus and say, “This is why He mentioned the priest.” It is simply that a priest was going down that road. We do not know where the priest was going. The text is just saying he was going down that road.

So let us not add details and facts that are not mentioned. We do not know where the priest was going. He appears in the story, and that is it. He just appears in the story, and once he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

What would you have done? You, reading this—what would you have done? The easiest thing is to say, “What does that have to do with me? I have my own things to attend to. Why should I be distracted by this man lying there, half dead? What if he is dead? What does that have to do with me?” That is what you would do. That is what I would do.

Again, we do not need to psychoanalyze the priest and say, “We know he is going to the temple.” How do you know that? You do not know that.

Let us not feel compelled to add more details to the Bible than are there. Focus on the overall message, not the side attractions. The priest—these are the people you have the highest regard for—is just going down that road. He sees the injured man and passes by on the other side.

Look at the scene: bleeding. Do you like to see blood? I do not know about you. Who likes to see blood? It is obvious that this man was bleeding. And it is simply “a man.” You do not know whether he is a Jewish man or a non-Jewish man. Jesus said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” There is no identifier here for that man. He is just a generic man. It could be an African man. It could be an Asian man. It could be a man of European descent—a generic man that stands for all of us, who have fallen into death and destruction because of sin and the damage of sin.

God bless you. I will continue later.