A Man Who Fell Among Thieves - Luke 10:30

The beloved physician Luke wrote concerning Jesus, “behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how do you read it? And he answering said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. And he said unto him, you have answered right: this do, and you shall live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?”, and in chapter ten and verse thirty of his book Luke shared how Jesus begins a story about, “a man” who “fell among thieves” where we read:

And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

The verse reads, “And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, ...” Luke began with the words, “and Jesus answering said” or “and the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation responded and began to speak uttering, declaring and proclaiming the following”, “a certain man” which means “a particular male human being” “went down from Jerusalem” or “traveled or journeyed away from the city of Jerusalem which means set you double peace and was the capital of Palestine” “to Jericho” which means “to the city of Jericho which means place of fragrance and was a noted city abounding in balsam, honey, cyprus, myrobalanus, roses and other fragrant products. It was near the north shore of the Dead Sea in the tribe of Benjamin, between Jerusalem and the Jordan River”, “and fell among thieves” or “and was encompassed and surrounded by robbers, plunderers, freebooters and brigands”. Luke shared how Jesus began to tell a story about a “man” who traveled from “Jerusalem to Jericho” and was “surrounded” by “robbers”.

The verse goes on to say, “... which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” Luke continued with the words, “which stripped him of his raiment” which means “who took the man's clothing and garments”, “and wounded him” or “and hit, struck and beat the man”, “and departed” which means “and went away and left”, “leaving him half dead” or “the robbers let alone, disregarded, omitted and neglected the man who was robbed to the point of being halfway to death”. Luke shared how the “thieves” took the man's clothing, beat him and left him to die.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn about a man whom Jesus said was traveling from “Jerusalem to Jericho” and was robbed along the way. The people who robbed him took his clothes, beat him and left him for death. We might imagine how Jesus felt about this act, but He employed the story to show the lawyer who his neighbor was. God knows the horrible acts that occur in this world, and when people are abused, He uses His people to minister to them. God wants a relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they yield their lives to Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”, they become His agent to help those in this world who have been “robbed, beaten and left for dead”.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus says, “there came down a certain priest that way”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".