God’s Word for You
2 Chronicles 28:12-15 Good Samaritans
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, May 15, 2025
12 Then certain chiefs of the Ephraimites, Azariah son of Johanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were returning from the war 13 and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you’re talking about bringing guilt against the LORD on us in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.”
After the prophet Oded was finished speaking, a group of Ephraim’s chief men also stood and spoke to the returning warriors. Four men, each with a family pedigree, confronted the army. Their whole speech is about guilt. “You are bringing more guilt upon us. This is in addition to our present guilt. Our guilt is already great.” The repetition is for emphasis; to repeat a thing three times is a way of pronouncing a superlative: “Our guilt is as bad as it gets already!” They also confessed that there was “fierce wrath against Israel.” It was not time to compound past sins with more sins. It was time to repent.
Isaiah had preached repentance in Judah, and the result had begun to show itself: “The heart of Ahaz trembled, and the heart of his people trembled the way that the trees of the forest tremble in the wind” (Isaiah 7:2). The king and his cronies were truly frightened. As Luther says, “No one is more scared in trouble than the top hypocrites. In peace they are unyielding and harder than flint; in distress they are shaken like trees at every breeze.” Isaiah may have had Leviticus 26:36 in mind, “The sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight.” Now the leaders of Ephraim were standing up and saying, “We must repent, too, or the whole forest will be on fire, and every tree will burst into flames. Their trunks and limbs will crack and split, and they will come crashing down all around us.” This is the power of the word of God upon the human heart.
14 So the warriors left the captives and the plunder before the officials and all the assembly. 15 Then those who were mentioned by name got up and took the captives, and with the plunder they clothed all that were naked among them. They gave them clothes, gave them sandals, gave them food and drink, and gave them salve for their wounds. Then, leading back all those who were weak among them on donkeys, they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, near their people. Then they returned to Samaria.
When Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan, he hardly changed any details. It sounds as if he simply reached into this account of the Samaritans returning captives to Jerusalem and isolated one incident. He said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell into the hands of robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead… A Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was. When he saw him, he took pity on the man. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He put him on his own mount, took him to an inn, and took care of him” (Luke 10:30, 33-34). Even putting the weak one on a donkey is part of both accounts. What Jesus adds about the Levite and priest avoiding the hurt man is a reminder that we all stumble into sin. It’s a mirror for our lives.
The list in verse 15 is remarkable: They gave the prisoners clothes, sandals, food, drink, “and they anointed them,” that is, they poured oil on their wounds, sunburn, and so on. All of the immediate needs of the prisoners were seen to, and they were escorted down the Jordan to Jericho, where they were “in proximity to” their brothers and sisters of Judah. Perhaps this was a precaution, to be sure that the escort would not be attacked along the way. Once the good Samaritans, Azariah, Berekiah, Jehizkiah, and Amasa, were sure that the former prisoners were taken care of and could be returned safely to Jerusalem, they returned to Samaria.
When Jesus told his parable, it was about showing mercy to one’s neighbor; and a definition of what a neighbor really is, to help us understand the whole second table of the Law. Here in the historical account in Chronicles, it is a show of repentance by men who lived in a sinful land under a sinful king. Their act asks the question: “How can I show my love for my neighbor when the government treats my neighbor so badly?” The answer? We still treat our neighbor with Christian love, no matter what labels have been stuck to them, or by whom. We can be kind without making demands. We can open doors to the gospel or look for them, and proclaim Christ whenever we can.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.