The Hospitality of God

Jesus used parables to illustrate Kingdom principles. His parable of the Good Samaritan can deepen our understanding of the call to Kingdom hospitality.

“Jesus replied with a story: A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ ‘Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?’ Jesus asked. The man replied, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Yes, now go and do the same.’” – Luke 10:30-37 NLT

The context of Jesus’ use of this parable is important. In fact, He uses it to illustrate “The Greatest Commandment.” The man to whom he was speaking wanted to know what it looked like to love your neighbor as yourself, so Jesus used this parable to teach him. Jesus explains what Kingdom hospitality (loving your neighbor) looks like, giving us three important points to ponder.

Kingdom Hospitality Is Intentional

There are several points in the story where we can point out the intentionality of its characters. First, the priest intentionally crossed to the other side of the road to avoid the man. This was the religious leader of this man’s own religion. If anybody should be expected to stop and help, it would be the priest! He crosses the street, however, somehow able to ignore what he sees and keeps going.

Next, we have the Temple assistant. This man probably would have been just as expected to stop and help as the priest. At least he took it a step further than the priest and acknowledged the man! Maybe he assessed his wounds and thought that there was nothing he could do, so he kept going. Maybe he had been trained by the priest who had already walked by, but looking and leaving might be a worse response.

Maybe they were on their way to the same meeting. Who knows? Either way, they both were intentional in their choice to leave their neighbor in the ditch to die, just like the thieves did.

Lastly we have the Samaritan. If we harken back to the story of the woman at the well, we already know that Jews and Samarians hated each other. Just saying that they hated each other doesn’t really paint a clear enough picture to describe how unlikely this guy was to stop and help. In fact, in this story, he was the least expected man of the bunch to stop and practice hospitality. Notice how Scripture describes him as “a despised Samaritan”? No way would he stop. But he did!

Kingdom Hospitality Is Hands-on

The despised Samaritan is the only one of the three that felt compassion. We’re not told what the other two felt, but maybe it was irritation, frustration, disgust, apathy, etc. No matter their feelings, each of these men acted on them.

Compassion moved the Samaritan to action. He could have called for help and waited for somebody else to take care of the man, but he didn’t. He got down and began to dress his wounds and soothe his pain. It’s very possible that he was covered in olive oil, wine, and the hurt man’s blood when he was finished. He intentionally got in the middle of what was happening, using a hands-on approach to love his neighbor.

Kingdom Hospitality Is Costly

If there was any obligation to be had in this story, it fell on the first two men. The Samaritan man didn’t have any reason to get involved. He actually had many more reasons to not get involved. So he had already gone beyond expectation by dressing the man’s wounds, and he could have left it at that. The cost of the oil and wine alone surely would have been enough. But it wasn’t enough for him. He put him on his own donkey and took the man to a hotel.

Once at the hotel, he continued to take care of him. He could have left the man to sleep it off and fend for himself. Instead, he understood that not only had the man been beaten and left for dead, but he’d also been robbed. It wasn’t enough for him to save his life, he also wanted to foot the bill. He paid the innkeeper for the time the man would stay there in recovery and assured him that he would pay the balance when he returned! Hospitality cost the Samaritan his time, his plans, his money, his resources, and his line of credit. But because he was moved with compassion, which also means kindness, he made it his mission to comfort and heal the man.

Kingdom hospitality intentionally moves in the direction of mercy and love. It is not hindered by time, resources, money, or culture. It is moved by compassion to meet the needs of its neighbors in every possible way, knowing that doing so communicates the heart of the Father.