Luke 10:30-37

Then Jesus answered and said "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and look , and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, had compassion. "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him."

How do we interpret the action of  these three people? One was a priest who thought himself to be very holy and righteous. After all he had his robes on to prove it. He couldn't roll around in the gutter seeing to this man he might get himself dirty and that would never do. He was just thinking of himself. I guess we have all fallen in this trap at some time or another.  Someone else will do it.

Then comes the second man, a Levite, an assistant to the priest.  Now he was a wise man with his Bible under his arm and could not be seen doing such a task. After all, his status in society might be in question.

Now comes the third man a Samaritan, someone who was considered to be a sinner and was to be seen as the lowest  of the low. He had no place in society, but thank God he had placed a spirit of love and  compassion in this man's  heart. It's funny you know, on the one hand, here is a man who would not lift a finger to help because he did not want to damage his reputation in society, and on the other hand we have a man who had no reputation willing  to give his time and money to get this man up and well again.  Are we prepared to put our reputation to one side to help others who are in more need than ourselves?