The Blessing of Descent

Luke 10.30-37 

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.”

In the story of the Good Samaritan, we read a lot about the blessing of descent. The traveler is going from Jerusalem (the high place of worship) DOWN to Jericho (remembered as the city whose walls became a heap of rubble). This symbolizes the both physical descent in altitude as well as descent from the pinnacle of spirituality, down to the once pagan city that was the first one conquered in the Promised Land. On his way down, the wayfarer is set upon by robbers, beaten, and left DOWN on the ground. The high-born people, on their way UP to Jerusalem pass him by, but the LOWLY Samaritan comes DOWN off his donkey, bandages his wounds, puts him UP on his own animal, and takes him to an inn to receive care.

All of this is to illustrate the Greatest Commandment, to show the legalist how he could love God not by piety but by loving his neighbor. Jesus literally tells him to get off his high horse and become a servant. If you want to have a hero, Jesus says, emulate the lowly Samaritan rather than the "upstanding" priest and Levite.

By this story, Jesus demonstrates that the pinnacle of our divine experience isn't RELIGION, but RELATIONSHIP. God is far less concerned with religious activity and Temple mentality and Temple practice than He is with compassion and mercy towards our fellow human beings. Loving my neighbor is loving God, because Jesus said, "Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me."

Surrender as Atonement

                When the American South declared its independence from the North, it decided that it was its own sovereign nation.  It printed its own money, elected its own president, and established its own capitol.  In establishing the Confederacy, the South committed treason and broke the Union of the United States.  The resulting war cost more lives than any other American war.  Then, finally, when the South reached the end of its resources, the Confederacy surrendered to the Union at Appomattox.  With this peace accord, the war was over.  Yet, there were still battles fought even after peace was made.  Because news did not travel fast, men died in defense of a Confederacy that no longer existed.  Even once news was broadcast everywhere that the Confederacy was dead, rebel flags continued to be flown.  Throughout the South today, the Stars and Bars fly in defiance of the North.  Though the war is over, the South has never forgotten.  Though official peace has been made, the way of the rebel still remains.

                When humanity declared its independence from God, the resulting war broke the union between heaven and earth, claiming untold souls.  Yet, in his own blood, Jesus drafted the peace treaty that broke down the dividing wall of hostility.  Through Jesus, the war is now over.  Sin has been defeated.  Peace has officially been made.  Yet that doesn't mean that those who are ignorant of this peace have quit struggling against heaven.  Some, those who have never received the news of peace, continue to fight as if in a war.  Others, those who have raised the white flag of surrender, still occasionally replace that banner with the battle flag.  These little rebellions have no eternal effect, because they cannot undo the peace enacted by the cross.  They can, however, impede our witness as people of peace.  Being like Jesus means practicing the art of surrender.  This surrender becomes the way of atonement.

In the garden of Eden, Adam became the model of brokenness and our need for atonement.  In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus modeled surrender as the way of atonement.  In Adam’s fall, the first man demonstrated rebellion against God.  In Jesus’ submission, the Savior displayed surrender as the path to union.  Surrender breaks down the dividing wall of hostility so that God and humanity become one.  Jesus shows that surrender is the way of peace.  He calls believers to live a life of surrender as well.

Perhaps nothing models this surrender more than Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane.  Mark 14:35-36 says, "And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, 'Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will'.”

Today, make that your One-sentence prayer: "Not what I will, but what you will."  By practicing surrender, we find atonement, at-one-ment with God.