Lesson 4 Purposes for Slavery to Sin: That We Might Recognize Our Need to Wash at the Cross and Walk by the Spirit
Questions 4 and 5
This story is an illustration of what sin does to us. It beats us up, strips us of everything of value in our lives, and leaves us on the side of the road half-dead. “Half-dead” is a good picture, too, for we end up alive to our lusts, alive to temptation, alive to the allurements of Satan, but dead to God, maybe dead to our marriage, and all higher and better things in life.
Question 4. What did the priest and the Levite do for the man as they saw him lying there on the side of the road?
When we become broken by sin, the Law and religion can do nothing for us. The religious leaders passed by this broken man. All the law can do is pass by us, condemning our actions and judging us as guilty. It can reveal what sins we’ve done, but it can’t lift a finger to help us out of our condition.
This story is told by Jesus to condemn the actions of those who have no compassion for others. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day claimed to obey God’s Law, yet they had no love or compassion for sinners, nor would they lift a finger to help hurting people. Jesus was exposing their wrong thinking and actions by telling this story.
This story also shows one of the purposes of our being “controlled by sin.” Sin beats us up and leaves us on the side of the road half-dead, and it is here that we truly begin to see our need of Jesus and His gospel. Nothing else has worked. It is as if we have been passed by and left stranded, our enemies of temptation and lust have been too strong for us, have overpowered us many times, and there has been none to help.
Let’s notice what happens next:
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ Luke 10:33-35
Question 5. Please list everything that the Samaritan did for the wounded man.
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