When studying scripture, we are often told to know the context in which a passage is presented. In the case of the parable of the Good Samaritan, the context can be ascertained from Luke 10.1-3, which says “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.’” Therefore, one of the reasons why we need to be marked by God’s mercy is for the sake of the harvest. Jesus says it very clearly that the harvest is plentiful, and we are able to see this vast harvest when we are freed from the limitations and boundaries of our understanding of who our neighbors are. If our definition of neighbors is towards a limited few, then the harvest is not plentiful. However, when we are able to see people through Jesus’ eyes, then the harvest is plentiful, for God so loved the world.

Today, let’s pray that the Lord would open our eyes so we can see the plentiful harvest, and that we would be sent out as His skilled kingdom workers.

-GK