Hello Ray,
How are you? I posted the following on the bible-truths forum and was recommended to forward to you. Thanks in advance to any insight you can give.
I recently read the Foundational Truths bible study and it was very well done. I had a question and hopefully someone can help me out. There was a segment when Ray was discussing the parables of Jesus and how to understand one parable, one could understand them all. When he referenced the "Good Samaritan" parable, he referred to the good Samaritan as the Elect and the Priest and the Levite as the Many. I always thought the "Good" Samaritan was Jesus and the man that was robbed was mankind or humanity. Also, the Good Samaritan pays the debt to the Innkeeper (who I thought was the Father and Jesus is here paying our debt). The reason I thought the man who was robbed was mankind is because the man is in bad shape and is knocked unconsciousness or "unaware" of the state that he is in. And the Samaritan does not ask if this is a Godly man and cannot tell of his position within society (Priest, Levite, Jew, Gentile, etc.) because he has no clothes and is not speaking (speech was use d to tell who people were). But the Samaritan does not care about those things, he only wishes to "save" the lost individual. So basically, I just would like some help in understanding how the Good Samaritan is the Elect in this parable. Thanks
Marques
Dear Marques: I fail to see how God the Father can be linkened to an "inn keeper?" Also if the Samaritan represents Jesus, since when would Jesus have to pay money to His Father to take care of someone. Also since when does Jesus (the Great Physician) need to pay someone to restore another to health over a long period of time. Jesus healed people quickly or at least "from that hour." Not weeks or months later, etc. Sometimes we can suffer from paralysis of analysis if we aren't careful, by assigned all kinds of things to these parables.
The Levi and the Priest represent the "children of the kingdom." The highest order in the tribes of Israel. It is they who should be inheriting the Kingdom of God first, but they will be last, as witnessed by the many sins attributed to them.
On the other hand, the Samaritans were despised by the Jews and elite of Jerusalem. Yet Jesus shows on several occasions (the one of ten lepers who returned to thank Jesus, the woman at the well, the Jews accusing Jesus of being a Samaritan with a devil) that He will give favor to certain Samaritans. It was the Samaritan in this parable who helped the stranger, and therefore kept the commandments of "Loving God and Loving Neighbor," (which was the thing that prompted this parable) not the Jews.
This parables, like all the others, have to do with the "many called, but few chosen."
Hope this helps your understanding.
God be with you,
Ray
