The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the best-known stories in the Bible. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted innumerable times, so much so that at one time the Church declared it to be an allegory of Christ and the Church. Jesus told this parable in answer to a question by a lawyer, a scribe who studied the Law of Moses in detail. This lawyer asked a question that had been bothering lawyers for centuries: Who is my neighbour? At first, this question seems straightforward. The question of who was ones neighbour was practical. After all, the Israelites were commanded to love their neighbours, but hate their enemies. If the neighbours could not be distinguished from the enemies, the law could not be kept in this respect. Some rabbis said a neighbour was any Jew, others that it was only relatives. The context of this parable is also important. The lawyer asking the question had already asked another: What must I do to inherit eternal life? The reply was simple: Love God and your neighbour. In answering the question in this way, Jesus was showing that no one can inherit eternal life. No one can perfectly love God and his neighbour. But the lawyer, not liking this answer and seeking to justify himself, asked, Who is my neighbour? He focused on the slightly more feasible aspect of this answer: although one cannot love God with all his heart, it might be possible to love ones neighbour, provided that group wasnt too big. Jesus parable overthrew all of his expectations. The story is a simple one. A solitary man, travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among robbers. This would have been familiar to the hearers, as the road was dangerous, with thieves and outlaws running rampant. Beaten, penniless, and left for dead, this traveller lay on the side of the road. A priest passed by, but didnt stop to help. A Levite, likewise, did the same thing. The next sentence of this parable would have horrified all decent Jews, for the third traveller, the man who had compassion on this halfdead man, was a despised Samaritan. This Samaritan, one of the people who had been imported into the land when the Babylonians had emptied it, worshipped God in his own way, not with the rituals of Moses law. No Jew would even speak to a Samaritan, even if he were on the point of death. But this unclean heathen took pity, bandaged his wounds, set him on his own donkey, and brought him to an inn, where he was taken care of. The Samaritan helped even to the point of paying for all further care. One can only imagine the faces of the hearers when Jesus finished telling the parable. His final question to the lawyer reversed the original question. When he asked, Who was a neighbour to this man, he showed that instead of asking who will help us, we are to ask whom we can help. The lawyer couldnt bring himself to give the actual name all he could say was, The one who had mercy on him. Even a

child could have answered that question. All the debates and arguments on the subject of who exactly was a neighbour were answered in that one statement. And then Jesus climaxes his teaching with one final command: Go and do likewise. Jesus command is a simple answer to the problem of neighbours. The Pharisees had made laws about the Law, and then laws about the laws about the Laws. Jesus cuts right to the heart of the matter. His command still applies to us today. Our neighbour is anyone in need of help, regardless of their condition.