Tag: good-samaritan

“The Good Samaritan”

The Stories that Define Us

Our current series is titled “The Stories that Define Us.” It is a collection of scriptures that people from my church or who read this blog have lifted up as scriptures that define our faith in some way. Be it our identity, our foundational beliefs, our values, or some combination of these and more, these scriptures get at the core of what it means to be Christian – and they lead us to some interesting points of wrestling in our faith.

So far, we’ve read about Jesus, God’s only begotten son – what John says his presence here meant and one of the resurrection stories. Today, we read our first parable: The Parable of the Helpful Stranger – sometimes called the Good Samaritan.

Luke 10:25-37 – Just How would You Define a Neighbor?

Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

“Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”

Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

“A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’

“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”

“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

(Luke 10:25-37, MSG)

Commentary

I love this text for its realistic portrayal of human thought.

This religious scholar goes up to Jesus, seeking a loophole to a teaching he’d known forever. These commands to love God and to love your neighbor first appear in the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18). They’re the sort of thing all Jewish children would have been taught – just as all Christian Children learn this same teaching. Often in conjunction with this story. In fact, it is the children of my church who proposed this story as one of the Stories that define us.

This religious scholar is looking for a place where God’s call to love might end, a place where he can stop extending love, grace, mercy, patience, aid, where he can judge instead of love. And so he asks for some boundaries to be put on this word ‘neighbor.’

In response, Jesus tells a story.

He tells of a man traveling between Jerusalem and Jericho – two Israelite cities. Because of the trajectory of his travel, we can assume this man was jewish. Sadly, he is robbed on the road, beaten up, and left on the side of the road in rough shape. The identity of these brigands is unknown.

Then the meat of the story happens.

A priest happens to walk by. He sees the battered man, and walks by on the other side of the road, refusing to engage in any way.

Then a Levite religious man walks by, avoiding him as well.

The fact that these two passed by the man is important, but their identities are what drive home the point of this story. In their society at this time, there was no distinction between church and state. That is to say that the priest who passed by the man was as much a political leader as he was a religious one. The Levite religious man was a higher level of Jewish citizen because he was a descendant from Levi. This meant that more was expected of him than was from the average citizen; in other words, he was lifted up in their community as a role model. He ignored the man as well.

Thus not only did two of the men’s own tribe ignore him in his time of need, but his government, church, and role model did. The very people who would have been most expected to help him.

Then enter the Samaritan.

The animosity between Jews and Samaritans is well known, but few know the cause of it. The reason for the deep animosity between the Jewish and Samaritan people was inflammatory religious difference and deep political history.

The short version is that Samarians were descendants of Jewish people who married outside of the faith and built their own holy places after being left behind when the Jewish people were predominantly exiled from their land. When the exiled Jews returned, the Samaritans sought to welcome them back, but the returning exiles condemned the Samaritans for intermarrying with other ethnic groups and rejected their assistance and participation in their faith at every turn.

By the time Jesus came on the scene, the rift between Samaritans and Jews was so strong that there are multiple documented incidents of each side defiling the other’s sacred places. In fact, around the time of Jesus’ birth, a band of Samaritans had defiled the Temple in Jerusalem by scattering the bones of dead people around. This act would be akin to the vandalism of a synagogue today or the burning of a Black Church. In short, the two groups were known for hate crimes against each other – definitely not helping each other out.

Yet, this Samaritan man stops. He has countercultural compassion for this human being whom he has been taught to hate. He sees his fellow man with God’s eyes – noting their common humanity, viewing him with love and seeking to preserve his dignity.

The Samaritan treats the wounds of this battered cultural enemy, hoists him up onto his donkey, leads him to an inn, sees to his care, pays for his room, and makes certain to declare that he will return to check in on the man and pay for any remaining treatment or time of rest the man may need.

Which of the three became a neighbor?

Go and do likewise.

Today’s Questions

The religious scholar knows that the way to eternal life is through loving God and loving his neighbors, but he’s still looking for a loophole in this call to love. (Spoiler: there isn’t one.) What loopholes do you see some Christians of today imagine in God’s call to love? Or – asked in a different way – who do we (or our religious and political leaders) sometimes pass by instead of helping?

How expansive is your definition of neighbor? Or – asked in a more uncomfortable way – who do you consider worthy of your help? Who do you consider worthy of your sacrifice? Do you have stories that backup your answer? Or is it more hypothetical?

Who are the Samaritans in your society? Or – asked more directly – who have you and those around you been taught to hate, fear, or disregard? How can you become more neighborly in your treatment of or engagement with them?

A Blessing for Your Week

Child of God,

May God open your heart

That you might Love God

With all passion, prayer, muscle, and intelligence

With all heart, soul, mind, and strength

May God expand your heart

That you might love all your neighbors

The ones you like, and the ones you don’t,

The ones you understand, and the ones who challenge you,

The friend and the foreigner.

Across all lines of difference,

In all languages,

In all ways,

May divine love abound.

Amen.