05/29/2026
Pastor Cesar's Sermon Notes in the Patterson Irrigator 🙏
SERMON COLUMN
Will You Be A Good Neighbor?
Pastor Cesar Buitrago
The Gathering
The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10: 25-37
Imagine you are walking by Sperry Rd. when you see a car crash. One person is trapped in his car, is bleeding and needs help getting out.
What would you do besides calling 911? The next couple of minutes would reveal what you really believe. It is in moments like this when our faith is tested.
Well, today’s message is about one the most famous of Jesus’ parables, the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is so famous that hospitals and ministries have been named after the Samaritan. It is so familiar to all of us that we could miss the point.
The story is found in Luke 10:25-37.
• The inquisitive expert in the law: An expert of the law asked Jesus: What must I do to inherit eternal life? This is a great question, unfortunately with the wrong motivation. He wanted to test Jesus. He wanted to trap him in an error. He did not come as a disciple but rather as an adversary.
Jesus answered with two questions: What is written in the Law? How do you read it? The lawyer answered with Loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. Jesus replied: “Do this and you will live.”
In other words, for Jesus, life is not a matter of knowledge but a matter of obedience. It is not enough to go to church and read the Bible. We must do what it says. Here is where most of the problems in the church are rooted.
The man, wanting to justify himself, asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
We are pretty much like this expert of the law. We water down this commandment so that it does not hurt. We want to love as long as it does not cost us anything and it does not make us inconvenient. We want to love as long as it does not interfere with our schedules. We could be asking questions to hide our disobedience!
We have been like this lawyer and we must repent.
• A man in desperate need: Jesus tells the story of a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho who was “attacked by robbers, stripped of his clothes, beaten up and was left half dead.”
We don’t know this man’s name, we don’t know his politics, we don’t know whether he was a good person or a bad person. We just know he was a human being in desperate need.
A priest and a Levite passed by and saw the man in need but they both walked away. These two men represent established religion. The most pious men did not pass the test of compassion; probably with a thousand excuses.
There is a third man, as Jesus continued, this man was a Samaritan. Samaritans were despised and considered heathen by the Jews. The Samaritan came to where the man was, he saw him, but he was moved to compassion. He took care of his wounds, put the man on his donkey and brought him to an inn. Jesus asked the lawyer: Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?
The expert of the law hesitantly said, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Notice that he refused to say the Samaritan! Jesus said to the man: “Go and do likewise.”
What can we learn from the Samaritan? He took personal care of the man. He was practical and patient. He was willing to use his resources to help the victim.
Be a Good Samaritan to someone this week. When you see a need, allow the Holy Spirit to move you to compassion, and respond quickly to the need, the Lord will guide you as you do that. Offer prayer and then ask, is there something practical I can do for you besides praying?
• Jesus’ Powerful Question:
The lawyer had asked: Who is my neighbor? Jesus asked an entirely different question: Who was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?
Don’t ask who your neighbor is, ask if you are willing to be a neighbor to those in need, no matter who they are.
The religious leaders failed the test of compassion, but the most despised person, the most unqualified person, the Samaritan, became the hero of the story. He passed the test of compassion by becoming a true neighbor to the one in need.
Now: “Go, and do likewise!”
