A Message from the Texas Division Chaplain In the very well-known story of The Good Samaritan, Jesus is confronted by lawyers in Luke 10:25-29. In their attempt to trap Him with their question, And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:29) Jesus responds by giving them the story of The Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-37. There are various types of love that are described in Gods Word. It would be an exhaustive discussion in a setting such as this, but allow me to mention one of these examples of love. One example is, Love of neighbor. This type of love is shown and expressed in works of mercy. In this example of love, Jesus tells us to love God, love our neighbor, and we are to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. The love of neighbor will always accompany the love of God (Matt 5:29-30; Matt 6:24; Matt 22:39). As the story goes, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, and they beat him, and they went away leaving him half dead. Jesus continues the story by telling us that a religious leader saw the man and passed him by. Of all the people that should have stopped and helped this helpless man, it should have been the religious leader. In verse 32, Jesus tells us that another leader also passed the man on the other side. Surely, these are the two men that you automatically think should have stopped and given assistance to this poor helpless soul, but sadly, they passed him by without rendering any aide. Approximately ten years ago, I was in the Scroll Christian Bookstore in Tyler, Texas. At that time, the Scroll had numerous framed pictures on their walls of General Robert E. Lee, General Thomas Stonewall Jackson, and General George Washington kneeling and praying by his horse. This is not a common thing. It is also at The Scroll that I bought one of my favorite books, General Robert E. Lee, The Christian, and The Illustrated Confederate Reader. I personally believe that a business such as this deserves our patronage. One of the framed pictures that was on the wall was by artist William L. Maughan, and the picture was entitled, The Noble General. The true story was typed in an envelope attached to the back of the frame. Perhaps you are aware of this painting and the true story of July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg. I had to have it! The picture hangs on the wall in my study. General Lee and his army are leaving Gettysburg. As they are exiting the battlefield, General Lee sees a young Yankee soldier lying wounded on the ground. This union soldier spotted General Lee and his Confederate Army as they were leaving, and according to the union soldiers account, anger grew up within him. In his words, people from the South were like the scum of the earth. He had been taught to hate the Confederacy, the Confederate soldier, the South, and this General Lee. However, something amazing happened to totally revolutionize this young Yankee soldiers life. To his astonishment, General Lee stopped his armys progression when he spotted the wounded soldier. General climbed off Traveler, took a canteen filled with water, and the General went over to the young man and bent down beside him. He wished the soldier well and prayerful recovery to his injuries. The young soldier was moved beyond words. He said later on, (Lee) He had the kindest eyes I have ever seen. Everything this young man had believed about Southerners was crushed in those few brief moments in the presence of the great Robert E. Lee. Just as this young union soldier had built up hatred in his heart against the Confederacy, the Jews had a hatred in their hearts for Samaritans. But who was it that stopped and gave aide to the poor beaten man on the side of the road? It was a Samaritan. We Southern folks know General Robert E. Lee by many names and titles, but I believe one of the greatest titles we could describe him by would be, General Robert E. Lee, The Good Samaritan. Southern Blessings, Reverend Don Majors Texas Division Chaplain SCV
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 22:34:37 +0000
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