Who was he?

This is how the parable of the Good Samaritan starts:

"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead" Luke 10:30

Who was that man? I know that Jesus used the parable of the Good Samaritan to demonstrate what a "good neighbor" would do, but I have always been intrigued by the man lying face down, and half dead on the side of the road. I don’t know much about him… Was he a good man, a bad man? Did he deserve to be saved? Maybe he was running away from Jerusalem to Jericho, because he had done something terrible and needed to escape.

Was he conscious? Was he praying? I like to imagine him as lying there hopeless. If he was a good man, he was probably hopeless because he had lost all his belongings. If he was a bad man, maybe some of the people he knew would say that he only got what he deserved! When he heard footsteps, he started hoping again:

"Yes! My prayers have been answered!”

But the man didn’t stop, whoever that was did not seem to care enough to help someone in need. The man on the side of the road, probably started praying again, but was more careful this time, setting lower expectations, just in case...

Another man walked by…

"Will he stop? Will I get help this time? I am not sure how much longer I can take this..."

The Levite kept walking. Maybe these two people were simply not able to help the stranger. They might have been running late to an important meeting, or they were on their way help someone else! This is only me, as usual, trying to see the best in everyone. Anyway, back to the story. By the time the Good Samaritan walked by, the man on the floor was completely hopeless. He didn’t believe anymore.

"Look what good it did to me the first two times!”

I also see him angry, frustrated and probably thinking:

"I would stop and offer help if I saw someone bleeding on the side of the road!!!"

Would he? Would I? I know that I would probably pass out from seeing so much blood, so I wouldn’t be able to help much… But seriously, I like to think that I would stop and help…especially if I bent down and noticed that this person looked strangely like me.

EED