God of Mercy

You've probably heard the story of the Good Samaritan - where an injured man was lying on the side of the road after being assaulted and robbed and all the good, religious folk cross the road so that they don't have to be bothered by him while the disgusting Samaritan (a half-breed!) shows him compassion and tends to his healing. 

But have you ever seen how many times this story is actually told in the Gospels?

Hint: If you're looking for the word "Samaritan," you're going to miss it. 

Instead, we're looking at another half-breed. An illegitimate son. A child born out of wedlock. A disgrace. A little boy who grew up making all kinds of wild claims while everyone else looked at him derisively and sneered, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" 

We're talking about Jesus - who was scandalized even before He claimed to be God. We're talking about a prophet that the religious elite dismissed. We're talking about the Man who ought to have been unknown to us for every single detail in His story except that whole "being the Son of God" thing. 

Watch the Gospels. How many times do you see it?

How many times do you see Jesus walking down the street, and someone is crying out to Him from the side of the road? How many times do you see the crowds pressing in, but it's one desperate voice that catches His attention? Do you see Him stop because the bleeding woman touched Him, just to turn around and offer her human compassion? Do you see Him give ear to the Centurion who desperately needs a miracle? 

Do you hear the crowds telling the blind men to shut up, to quiet down, to stop bothering the Teacher? 

And then, do you see the Teacher restoring their sight? (Matthew 20:29-34)

The Good Samaritan wasn't just a parable Jesus preached; it was a story He lived out over and over again. It is written all over the pages of the Gospels, albeit with different words, but the theme is the same every time. 

There is a human who is wounded, marred, scarred, beaten by this world that we live in. This human is on the side of the road, crying out. Everyone's trying to push them aside, to shut them up, to ignore them. But Jesus - this illegitimate, out-of-wedlock, half-breed Messiah from Nazareth - turns and has compassion on every single one of them. Every time. 

He tends to their wounds, tends to their souls, pays the price for their recovery out of His own pocket - His own flesh and blood, and promises to come back and settle the debts at a future time. Jesus is the Good Samaritan. 

And that Good News is the hope for every single one of us wounded by this world, marred, scarred, and beaten...and crying out for mercy.