The Good Samaritan and the Texas Floods: What Neighbor-Love Requires Now

By the Real Ryan Nichols Editorial Team

Jesus once answered a man who wanted to define the limits of neighbor-love.

He did not answer with a boundary map.

He told a story about a wounded stranger, two respected people who passed by, and a Samaritan who stopped.

That story, recorded in Luke 10:25–37, is often reduced to “be nice.” It is much more demanding than that. The Samaritan sees suffering, moves toward it, gives practical care, accepts inconvenience, spends his own resources, and creates a plan for continued help.

Texas is again confronting that kind of need. Severe July flooding has killed people, damaged homes and businesses, forced rescues, and pushed communities from emergency response into a long recovery.

The parable does not explain why a flood happened. It does not prove a political position. It does not tell us that one modern official is the priest, another is the Levite, and a favored group is the Samaritan.

It asks something closer and harder: When suffering is placed in front of us, will we become a neighbor?

The Bible story in its original setting

A lawyer—meaning an expert in the law of Moses—approaches Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life.

Luke says the man is testing Jesus. Jesus responds by asking what is written in the law and how the man understands it.

The lawyer gives a strong summary:

• Love God with your whole being, echoing Deuteronomy 6:5.
• Love your neighbor as yourself, quoting Leviticus 19:18.

Jesus tells him that he has answered correctly.

But Luke then gives the motive behind the next question: the man wants to justify himself.

So he asks, “And who is my neighbour?”

The question can sound reasonable. In practice, it can become an attempt to identify the people who count and the people who do not.

Jesus answers with the parable.

A man is left half dead

A traveler is going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attack him. They strip him, beat him, and leave him half dead.

The story does not identify the wounded man’s ethnicity, occupation, politics, reputation, or moral history. He is simply a human being in immediate need.

A priest comes down the road, sees him, and passes by on the other side.

Then a Levite does the same.

People sometimes supply explanations for their choices—fear of another attack, concern about ritual impurity, an urgent appointment, or suspicion that the victim is a trap. The biblical text does not tell us why they passed. We should not turn speculation into Scripture.

What Luke makes clear is simpler: both men see the wounded traveler, and neither becomes his helper.

The unexpected person stops

Then a Samaritan arrives.

The choice would have surprised Jesus’ original audience. Jews and Samaritans carried a long history of religious, ethnic, and political hostility. The Samaritan is not the person many listeners would have expected Jesus to make the moral center of the story.

But when he sees the injured man, “he had compassion on him.”

That compassion becomes action.

The Samaritan:

1. Goes to the wounded man.
2. Treats and binds his wounds.
3. Places him on his own animal.
4. Brings him to an inn.
5. Personally cares for him.
6. Pays the innkeeper two denarii for continued care.
7. Promises to cover additional reasonable expense when he returns.

This is not distant concern. Mercy costs him time, supplies, transportation, money, comfort, and a change of schedule.

He also does not attempt to do everything forever by himself. He gets the man to a safer place, involves an innkeeper, provides resources, and makes a follow-up commitment. His help is both compassionate and organized.

Jesus changes the question

After telling the story, Jesus does not ask, “Which injured people qualify as your neighbors?”

He asks which of the three proved to be a neighbor to the man who was attacked.

The lawyer answers: “He that shewed mercy on him.”

Jesus replies, “Go, and do thou likewise.”

The movement matters.

The lawyer begins by asking where his responsibility ends. Jesus asks what kind of person he will become.

The parable is not a formula for buying salvation with charitable acts. The wider Christian gospel is that grace is God’s gift, not a wage we earn by accumulating good deeds. But grace does not train Christians to become experts at avoiding wounded people. It forms people who show mercy because they have received mercy.

The current Texas flood facts—separate from the parable

The Bible story above is the theological text. The following is current reporting about a real disaster. These facts should be evaluated through official records and credible news sources, not treated as details from the parable.

A broad state disaster declaration

On July 14, the Texas Division of Emergency Management reported that the state’s emergency operations center was working around the clock at Level II, or escalated response. The governor’s disaster declaration covered 59 counties threatened or affected by severe storms and flash flooding.

Thousands of responders and vehicles deployed

In a July 16 state response update, officials said Texas had deployed more than 2,350 emergency responders and more than 1,400 vehicles. The state continued warning people not to drive into rising or flooded roadways.

A federal declaration was requested

On July 17, the governor requested a presidential disaster declaration for 28 counties to support response and recovery. That request and the earlier 59-county state declaration are different actions and should not be confused.

The damage is extensive, and estimates remain preliminary

On July 21, the San Antonio Express-News reported that preliminary estimates identified damage to roughly 600 homes and 100 businesses in Kerr and Kendall counties. The report said two people had died and more than 530 people had been rescued.

Those figures describe the situation reported on July 21. Disaster totals can change as local assessments continue. A responsible article should not present preliminary counts as final.

What the parable does—and does not—say to this moment

The Good Samaritan does not give Christians a flood-control engineering plan, a government budget, or a theory about which party deserves credit or blame.

It does expose several temptations that appear whenever suffering becomes public.

Seeing is not the same as helping

The priest and Levite both see the man. Awareness by itself is not mercy.

Scrolling through disaster footage, expressing sorrow, arguing about leadership, or sharing an unverified post can create the feeling of involvement without meeting a single need.

Compassion must become appropriate action

The Samaritan does what the injured man actually needs. He does not perform for an audience or make the crisis about himself.

In a modern disaster, appropriate help may mean trained rescue work, shelter support, debris cleanup after authorities say an area is safe, transportation, meals, laundry, temporary storage, paperwork assistance, child care, or simply checking consistently on a displaced family.

Neighbor-love crosses comfortable boundaries

Jesus makes the helper a Samaritan and leaves the injured man unidentified.

Christian mercy is not supposed to depend on whether the suffering person votes like us, worships like us, looks like us, comes from our county, or can repay us.

Good intentions still need coordination

The Samaritan’s help is personal, but it is not chaotic. He uses available resources, transports the man, involves another caregiver, and promises follow-up.

Modern disaster officials routinely warn well-meaning people not to self-deploy into unsafe areas. An untrained person entering floodwater, blocking damaged roads, or bringing unusable donations can create another problem for survivors and responders.

A constructive action for today

Choose one named person or one coordinated service path, then take one concrete step.

If you know someone affected

Do not send only, “Let me know if you need anything.” Offer one specific, manageable form of help:

• “I can handle two loads of laundry Tuesday.”
• “I can bring a meal for four at 6 p.m. Does that work?”
• “I can organize your damage photographs and receipts into folders.”
• “I can make calls with you to confirm official assistance information.”
• “I can check on you again Friday morning.”

Let the affected person choose what is useful. Do not photograph, post, or tell their story publicly without permission.

If you want to volunteer

Use a coordinated organization rather than driving into a disaster zone without an assignment. Texas VOAD brings together established voluntary organizations working across disaster response and recovery. Follow the organization’s registration, training, safety, and deployment instructions.

If your property was damaged

When it is safe, use the state’s Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool to report storm damage. An iSTAT report helps local and state officials assess the scale of damage; it is not itself an application for financial assistance or a guarantee of aid.

If someone in your household may need emergency assistance

Review the free State of Texas Emergency Assistance Registry. STEAR is intended for people with disabilities, limited mobility, communication barriers, medical needs, or transportation needs. Registration gives local planners additional information, but it does not guarantee a particular service during an emergency.

If roads are flooded

Do not attempt a dramatic rescue with a passenger vehicle. Follow local warnings and turn around rather than entering floodwater. Call emergency services and give a precise location when someone is in immediate danger.

Reflection questions

Take five quiet minutes and answer these honestly:

1. When I see suffering, what excuse most often helps me keep moving?
2. Who have I decided is outside the boundaries of my responsibility or compassion?
3. Do I offer the help a person needs, or the help that makes me look generous?
4. What resource can I responsibly give this week—time, transportation, a meal, professional skill, prayer, follow-up, or physical work?
5. Who will make sure the help continues after the first burst of public attention fades?

A short prayer

Lord Jesus, keep us from using faith as a reason to pass by suffering. Give us wisdom to help safely, humility to listen, courage to cross the road, and endurance to remain after attention moves elsewhere. Make us neighbors who show mercy because You have shown mercy to us. Amen.

Sources and further reading

• Luke 10:25–37, the Good Samaritan
• TDEM’s July 14 disaster declaration update
• Texas’ July 16 response update
• July 17 request for federal disaster assistance
• July 21 damage and rescue reporting
• Texas VOAD coordinated volunteer information

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