Parable of the Good Samaritan
Luke 10:29-37
Take a moment to think back to one of your high school classes. Odds are, there was a fellow student (or perhaps it was you) who was a bit of a Smart Aleck. They behaved like they knew everything and jumped at every opportunity to correct the teacher. In acting like they needed to prove their intellect, it instead revealed that they were very insecure deep down. I, your author, had moments where I acted in this way. Now, I am a high school teacher and getting a hefty dose of my own medicine.
Jesus dealt with this on more than one occasion. In our parable for today, Jesus is responding to an expert in the law who was trying to ask Jesus questions to trip him up. He was trying to get dirt on Jesus and poke holes in his teaching. Unlike the annoying know-it-all from your high school class, this person was an expert in the Torah and in theology. I imagine the question “And who is my neighbor?” saturated in both sarcasm and insecurity. The expert was trying to poke at Jesus’ teaching while also ensuring that he was being obedient enough to justify himself in the eyes of the Law.
The story Jesus tells in response to this question is probably familiar to you. Perhaps even cliche. There are two principal lenses for reading this parable, both of which allow us to see the truth that Jesus is communicating. Let’s call these the instruction lens and the messianic lens.
First, the instruction lens. In the context of the conversation, Jesus was showing the expert that the way many of the Jews were treating people at the time was unloving. The Priest and the Levite are both people with religious power, just like the expert in the law, and they were having no mercy on the man who needed it. When the Samaritan, who was considered a member of a “less-than” or “othered” ethno-religious group, showed mercy to the man in need, it was a clear instruction for the expert to drop his prejudice and love all of his neighbors.
Additionally, according to the Jewish law, touching blood or dead things was considered unclean and would have required rituals of purification. This is another reason why the Jewish leaders passed the dying man by. Yet, Jesus teaches here that showing mercy to someone in need fulfills the greatest commandment - loving your neighbor - even when it would’ve meant a period of inconvenient uncleanliness for the Jewish leaders.
Next, the messianic lens. Take a moment to look back on the specific actions that the Good Samaritan took to care for the dying man. He bandaged wounds. He paid an expense owed by the man. He showed mercy. The Good Samaritan saved the life of a dying man. In instructing the expert on what it means to be a good neighbor, Jesus is pointing out that the messiah - the savior - is one who has come to heal, pay debt, and show mercy. We are the dying man on the road and Jesus is the Good Samaritan who saves us. The beauty of this parable is that these two lenses allow the hearer to see themself as the person being rescued. Yet, it is also clear that because Jesus is a rescuer - we too should seek to bring the same healing, generosity, and compassion to our neighbors.
Draw near to Jesus, the ultimate Good Samaritan today. As you receive his love and mercy, allow yourself to give it to others - no matter who they are, what they’ve done, or where they come from.
