The God Who Stoops Down

Helpless by the Road

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Jesus told the story of the Samaritan to teach the lawyer how to love. Many Christians see Jesus in the Samaritan, and every person who needs saving in the hurt man. All through the Bible, God cares for people who cannot help themselves.

Half dead. The man was robbed, stripped, wounded and left “half dead” (Luke 10:30). He was too badly hurt to help himself.

We all need help. Every person needs God's help. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin hurts us, and we cannot save ourselves.

Wounds no one bandaged. Through the prophet Isaiah, God described His rebellious people as a body covered with wounds and bruises. No one had closed them, bandaged them or soothed them with ointment (Isaiah 1:5-6).

God's invitation. But God did not leave them there. He said, “Come now, and let us reason together… Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

No one cares. Once David hid in a cave from people who wanted to hurt him. He told God that no one was on his side and no one cared for his soul (Psalm 142:4). Have you ever felt that alone?

You are my refuge. Then David cried out to the Lord and said that God was his refuge, his safe place (Psalm 142:5). When no one else stops, God does.

The King who helps. A psalm about the king says he will rescue the needy who cry out, and the poor person who has no helper. Their lives are precious to him (Psalm 72:12-14). That is God's own heart for people no one else will help.

We cannot fix ourselves. Being good, trying harder or knowing a lot about God cannot heal sin. God saved us “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy” (Titus 3:5).

Good news. We could not reach God, so God came to us. Jesus came to save people who could not save themselves.

What to do. Tell God honestly that you need Him. You do not have to pretend to be strong. He loves to help people who know they cannot help themselves.

Jesus told the parable to answer the lawyer's question about neighbors (Luke 10:29). Many Christians see Jesus in the Samaritan, and every person who needs saving in the hurt man. Behind every act of human mercy stands God's own mercy to people who cannot help themselves.

Stripped and half dead (10:30). The man “fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” He could add nothing to his own rescue. Someone else had to act.

Our condition. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin does not just make us a little weaker. It leaves us unable to make ourselves right with God.

Isaiah 1:5-6. God described rebellious Judah as sick from head to foot, full of wounds, bruises and open sores that had not been closed, bound up or soothed with ointment. Sin wounds, and no human remedy was treating the wound.

Isaiah 1:18. In the same chapter God invites, “Come now, and let us reason together… Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow.” The wound is deep, but the cure is God's.

Psalm 142:4-5. In the cave, David looked to his right hand and found no one who knew him and no one who cared for his soul. Then he cried to the Lord and called Him his refuge. Feeling abandoned is where many people first learn to call on God.

Psalm 72:12-14. The king God wanted for His people delivers the needy when he cries and the poor who has no helper, and their blood is precious in his sight. That is the heart of God Himself toward the helpless.

Not by works. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5). Mercy cannot be earned. If it could be earned, it would not be mercy.

Rescue from outside. We could not reach God, so God came to us. Jesus died for our sins and rose again to save people who could not save themselves.

Application. The first step toward Jesus is admitting that you need rescue. Pride says you can manage. Faith tells the Lord, I need You.

Rich in Mercy

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The priest and the Levite passed by, but the Samaritan stopped. Many Christians think of Jesus when they hear this story. All through the Bible, God is the One who stoops down to help.

He lifts the needy. A psalm says the Lord, who is high above everything, bends low to look at the earth. He raises the poor out of the dust and seats them with princes (Psalm 113:5-8).

He came down to us. We could not climb up to God. So Jesus, the Son of God, came down to us. He became a man and lived among people who were hurting.

His kindness appeared. Paul wrote that the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared when Jesus came (Titus 3:4). God did not stay far away.

Wounded for us. Jesus gave His own body for us. Peter wrote that Jesus “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree… by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Rich, then poor. Jesus gave up His riches for us: “though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

He paid it all. We were “not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Rich in mercy. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

He rose. Jesus did not stay in the grave. “He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4). He is alive, and He still saves everyone who comes to Him.

Then we go. Jesus did not say, “Go and do likewise,” so that we could earn His love. He loved us first. Now we show mercy because we have been shown mercy: “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

What to do. Thank God today for stooping down to you in Jesus. Then ask Him to show you one person you can stop for this week.

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion” (Luke 10:33). Many Christians think of Jesus when they hear this story. Behind every merciful act stands a God who has always stooped down to the helpless.

Psalm 113:5-8. The Lord dwells on high, yet He humbles Himself to look on the heavens and the earth. He raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, to seat them with the princes of His people. The highest One stoops lowest, and He lifts the lowest high.

Philanthropia. Titus 3:4 says that the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared. The phrase love toward man is one Greek word, philanthropia (say: fil-an-throh-PEE-ah), the root of our word philanthropy. In Jesus, God's love for people came to live among us.

By His stripes. Christ gave His own body for us. He “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree… by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Rich, then poor. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

The full price. We were “not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Ephesians 2:4-5. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” Mercy reached us while we were dead in sin, not after we had improved.

Risen. Paul wrote “that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4). The mercy of God is alive and still at work.

Back to the command. “Go and do likewise” rests on what God has already done in Christ. We do not show mercy to become His. We show mercy because we are His. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Application. Thank God specifically for the mercy He has shown you in Jesus. Then ask Him to make you the kind of person who stops on the road for someone else.

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Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.