Luke 10:34

Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: the Lord to save man who had wandered in error; to put away error; to give light to those who are in darkness; to abolish the imposture of idols; in its place to bring in the saving knowledge of God; to sanctify the world; to drive away the abomination and misery of the worship of false gods. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: the one for the many; to deliver the poor out of the hands of them that are too strong for him, yea, the poor and needy from him that spoileth him. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, to pour wine and oil upon him who had fallen amongst thieves, and had been passed by. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: to save us by Himself, as says the prophet; no ambassador, nor angel, but the Lord Himself saved us.

(Hom. in loc.) Or, he poured in wine, that is, the blood of His passion, and oil, that is, the anointing of the chrism, that pardon might be granted by His blood, sanctification be conferred by the chrism. The wounded parts are bound up by the heavenly Physician, and containing a salve within themselves, are by the working of the remedy restored to their former soundness. Having poured in wine and oil, he placed him upon His beast, as it follows, and placing him upon his beast, &c. (ut sup.) For the Inn is the Church, which receives travellers, who are tired with their journey through the world, and oppressed with the load of their sins; where the wearied traveller casting down the burden of his sins is relieved, and after being refreshed is restored with wholesome food. And this is what is here said, and took care of him. For without is every thing that is conflicting, hurtful and evil, while within the Inn is contained all rest and health.

And because true mercy appears in deed, therefore he adds: And drawing near, by effect, to whom he was already close by affection, calling back to unity, he bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, so that the oil might soothe the pain, …

And coming, Christ does three things for the wounded man: he applied a remedy, and this through the grace of the Sacraments, in which anointings and unctions are performed that heal the wounds of sins, which was not done before the coming of the Savior, …

(20. Moral. c. 8.) Or in the wine he applies the sharpness of constraint, in the oil the softness of mercy. By wine let the corrupt parts be washed, by oil let the healing parts be assuaged; we must then mix gentleness with severity, and we must so combine the two, that those who are put under us be neither exasperated by our excessive harshness, nor be relaxed by too much kindness.

And approaching, he bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Sins, which he found in men, he restrained by reproving, instilling hope of pardon in those who repent, and terror of punishment in those who sin. For he binds up the wounds when …

And setting him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn, and took care of him. His beast is the flesh, in which he deigned to come to us. And he set the wounded man on it because he bore our sins in …

And rightly He brought him placed on His beast, since no one, except he be united to Christ's body by Baptism, shall enter the Church.

(ubi sup.) Seeing him lying down weak and motionless. And therefore was He moved with compassion, because He saw in him nothing to merit a cure, but He Himself for sin condemned sin in the flesh. (Rom. 8:3.) Hence it follows, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine.

At once he "bound up the wounds," not allowing the disease to grow worse, but restraining it. "He poured oil and wine": the oil is the word of teaching that prepares for virtue by the promise of good things, and the wine is the word …

Or else, intercourse with man is the oil, and intercourse with God is the wine which signifies divinity, which no one can endure unmixed unless oil be added, that is, human intercourse. Hence he worked some things humanly, some divinely. He poured then in oil and wine, as having saved us both by His human and His divine nature. Or He placed us on His beast, that is, on His body. For He hath made us His members, and partakers of His body. The Law indeed did not take in all the Moabites, and the Ammonites shall not enter into the Church of God; (Deut. 23:3.) but now in every nation he that feareth the Lord is accepted by Him, who is willing to believe and to become part of the Church. Wherefore He says, that he brought him to an inn.

And went to him, and bound up his wounds,....

Christ's entertainment at Martha's house, the reproof he gave to her for her care about the world, and his commendation of Mary for her care about her soul,

Pouring in oil and wine - These, beaten together, appear to have been used formerly as a common medicine for fresh wounds. Bind up a fresh cut immediately in a soft rag or lint, moistened with pure olive oil, and the parts will heal by what is called the first intention, and more speedily than by any other means. An inn - Πανδοχειον, from παν, all, and δεχομαι, I receive; because it receives all comers.

These words contain the well-known parable of the good Samaritan. In order to understand the drift of this parable, we must carefully remember the occasion on which it was spoken. It was spoken in reply to the question of a certain lawyer, who asked, "who is my neighbor?" Our Lord Jesus Christ answers that question by telling the story we have just read — and winds up the narrative by an appeal to the lawyer's conscience. Let these things not be forgotten. The object of the parable is to show the nature of true charity and brotherly love.

OUR text is the whole story of the Samaritan, but as that is very long, let us, for our memories' sake, consider the exhortation in the 37th verse to be our text. "Go, and do you likewise." There are certain persons in the world who will not allow the preacher to speak upon anything but those doctrinal statements concerning the way of salvation which are known as "the Gospel."

These words contain the well-known parable of the good Samaritan. In order to understand the drift of this parable, we must carefully remember the occasion on which it was spoken. It was spoken in reply to the question of a certain lawyer, who asked, "who is my neighbor?" Our Lord Jesus Christ answers that question by telling the story we have just read — and winds up the narrative by an appeal to the lawyer's conscience. Let these things not be forgotten. The object of the parable is to show the nature of true charity and brotherly love. To lose sight of this object, and search for deep allegories in the parable — is to trifle with Scripture, and deprive our souls of most valuable lessons. We are taught, first, in this parable — how rare and uncommon true brotherly love is. This is a lesson which stands out prominently on the face of the narrative before our eyes. Our Lord tells us of a traveler who fell among thieves, and was left naked, wounded, and half dead on the road. He then tells us of a priest and a Levite , who, one after the other, came traveling that way, and saw the poor wounded man — but gave him no help. Both were men, who from their religious office and profession, ought to have been ready and willing to do good to one in distress. But both, in succession, were too selfish, or too unfeeling to offer the slightest assistance. They doubtless reasoned with themselves — that they knew nothing of the wounded traveler — that he had perhaps got into trouble by his own misconduct — that they had no time to stop to help him — and that they had enough to do to mind their own business, without troubling themselves with strangers. And the result was, that one after the other — they both "passed by on the other side." We have in this striking description, an exact picture of what is continually going on in the world.

OUR text is the whole story of the Samaritan, but as that is very long, let us, for our memories' sake, consider the exhortation in the 37th verse to be our text. "Go, and do you likewise." There are certain persons in the world who will not allow the preacher to speak upon anything but those doctrinal statements concerning the way of salvation which are known as "the Gospel." If the preacher shall insist upon some virtue or practical Grace, they straightway say that he is not preaching the Gospel, that he has become legal and is a mere moral teacher. We do not stand in any awe of such criticism, for we clearly perceive that our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, would very frequently have come under it. Read the Sermon on the Mount and judge whether certain people would be content to hear the likes of it preached to them on the Sabbath. They would condemn it as containing very little Gospel and too much about good works. Our Lord was a great practical Preacher. He frequently delivered addresses in which He made answer to questioners, or gave direction to seekers, or upbraided offenders—and He gave a prominence to practical truth such as some of His ministers dare not imitate! Jesus tells us over and over again the manner in which we are to live towards our fellow men and He lays great stress upon the love which should shine throughout the Christian character. The story of the good Samaritan, which is now before us, is a case in point, for our Lord is explaining, there, a point which arose out of the question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The question is legal and the answer is to the point. But let it never be forgotten that what the Law demands of us, the Gospel produces in us. The Law tells us what we ought to be and it is one objective of the Gospel to raise us to that condition.

Pouring in oil and wine - These were often used in medicine to heal wounds. Probably they were mingled together, and had a highly sanative quality. How strikingly is his conduct contrasted with the priest and Levite! And, how particularly as well as beautifully by this does our Saviour show what we ought to do to those who are in circumstances of need! He does not merely say “in general” that he showed him kindness, but he “told how” it was done. He stopped - came where he was - pitied him - bound up his wound - set him on his own beast - conducted him to a tavern - passed the night with him, and then secured the kind attendances of the landlord, promising him to pay him for his trouble and all this without desiring or expecting any reward. If this had been by a Jew, it would have been signal kindness; if it had been by a Gentile, it would also have been great kindness; but it was by a Samaritan - a man of a nation most hateful to the Jews, and therefore it most strikingly shows what we are to do to friends and foes when they are in distress.