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The priest and the Levite passed by on the other side!

Job Anbalagan

“And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him” (Luke 10:31-34)

The parable of the Good Samaritan does not merely reveal the goodness of the Good Samaritan but mainly focuses on the omissions of “a certain priest” and “a Levite”. There are three players in this game. They are a certain priest, a Levite and a certain Samaritan. The priest and the Levite made a debut by chance whereas the Samaritan made a debut while on a journey. They came there only by chance because they had not wanted to go by that way where the wounded man was lying half dead. The Samaritan used to go by that way because he was always on his journey into the outside world. But the priest and the Levite confined themselves to the Temple and they went outside the Temple only occasionally. The priest and the Levite after seeing the wounded man “passed by on the other side” whereas the Samaritan after seeing the wounded man had compassion on the latter.

By chance the priest came down that way. The priest under the Old Covenant was the one who served God publicly in the temple of God. Melchizedek, king of Salem, is mentioned as the priest of the most high God (Gen.14:18). Christ was a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Ps.110:4 & Heb.5:6). The word “priest” is mentioned for the first time in the book of Genesis, Chapter 14:18. After the priest left, the Levite came that way. The word “Levite” is mentioned for the first time in the book of Exodus, Chapter 4:14 and is suffixed to Aaron. We can say that the Levitical priesthood came out of Aaron, the Levite whereas the eternal priesthood of Christ Jesus came out of Melchizedek.

The priest was supposed to represent the order of Melchizedek and the Levite the order of the Levitical priesthood of Aaron. These days, we find two categories of ministers of God. The ministers of the first category are those who claim themselves to have been anointed with the Holy Spirit or the disciples of Jesus Christ representing the priesthood of Christ Jesus whereas the ministers of the second category are those who perform the ceremonial duties of the Christian religion, representing the Levitical priesthood.

But both these groups fall in the same category in so far as the wounded man is concerned because both pass by on the other side. The priest and the Levite saw the wounded man but did not stay there to help him. They were busy with their ministries. They thought they should give first priority to God in their ministries. For them, that wounded man did not mean anything as they had set their hearts on their respective ministries in the temple of God. In the temple of God, multitudes might have been waiting for their services. They did not bother about a single man.

These days, many ministers of God are busy so with their ministries that they have no time to look at the wounded man lying by the roadside. That single man may be a person wounded by his/her spouse. That single man may be a person persecuted for his/her faith in Christ Jesus.

That single man may be a person stripped by dacoits in the society. Dacoits need not be only those who come with guns or swords to rob the physically weak people. Prophetically speaking, dacoits are those who wield such power or who are in positions of authority to suppress the physically weak in the societies. There are “spiritual dacoits” in Christendom. These spiritual dacoits wound the feelings and emotions of the spiritually weak. These spiritual dacoits strip the weak of their glory by exposing the past lives of the latter which have been covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ or by condemning the spiritually weak from pulpits. Similarly, there are “religious dacoits” who for the sake of their religions strip and wound new believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Who comes to the rescue of this wounded man? The priest and the Levite look at the wounded man. This means they have knowledge of what is happening in the Christendom. They know how the weak are condemned and oppressed by the strong. They know how a married person is divorced by his/her spouse by way of false witnesses through the court of law. They know how new believers are oppressed and persecuted for their newly found faith by their parents or by others in their societies. But the priest and the Levite do not want to lift their fingers against these oppressors. Neither do they want to bind the wounds of these wounded persons who are individuals. They just pass on the other side. The other side is a place where they are praised and honored. The other side is a place where they get offerings in lieu of their services from the multitudes that throng to hear them. But on the side of the wounded man, they have to spend their precious money and time like the Good Samaritan. And they have to bear the reproach of Christ.

The priest and the Levite prefer to work in the Temple of God so that they are compensated for their services by the tithes and offerings whereas the Good Samaritan prefers to work by the roadside without expecting any reward from the wounded man.

Both the priest and the Levite always prefer to pass on the other side. Today there are many Christians likened to the wounded man who need to be ministered to individually either in their marriage lives or in their spiritual lives. Similarly, there are many young believers wounded by the religious dacoits in their societies and they need to be encouraged individually in the face of the stiff opposition they face from these dacoits. Will you come forward like the Good Samaritan to minister to the wounded man in the Body of Christ? Jesus did care for the individuals and ministered to them.

- Job Anbalagan