Good Samaritan
Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 ... a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And Jesus said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.
34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:25-37 (NRSV)
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During a bus tour of the Holy Land, an overzealous tour guide had the driver stop beside a pile of ruins at a remote place on a dusty road out in the boondocks. “This,” the tour guide said, pointing to the ruins, “was the inn where the Good Samaritan brought the man who had been beaten by robbers.”
“Whoa!” spoke up a tourist on the bus. “The story of the Good Samaritan didn’t really happen, it was just a parable Jesus told to make a point.”
“Well,” the tour guide responded, “if it had really happened, this is where the inn would have been.”
The parable of the Good Samaritan is a universal favorite, it’s our gospel for the upcoming Sunday, July 14th, and it’s as real to us as it was to the tour guide, because Jesus told it like it really happened. Jesus is speaking to Judeans, who will see themselves as the victim in the ditch, helped, saved from death by someone whom they vehemently detest and hold in utter contempt. They will look gratefully at the Good Samaritan for his lovingkindness, shocked at being forced to see a despised enemy as a good neighbor.
Of all Jesus' parables, this one best illustrates the one and only definition of love -- agape' -- which is that love is not a feeling but how we treat people. The definition is shockingly compelling when Jesus turns our understanding upside down and inside out, and forces us to define love not just by how we treat other people, but by how other people treat us. A neighbor is anyone who commits acts of lovingkindness --
-- that African-American family who moved in next door -- the married gay couple across the street -- the Muslim two doors down, whose wife wears the burkha -- the guy down the block whose pickup truck is sitting up on blocks at the curb until he gets round to replacing the brakes -- that pot-smoking young couple who play their music too loud and never mow their lawn --
-- the white trash guy with terrible grammar and bad teeth who doesn't know about deodorant --
-- who speaks a kind word or does a kindness.
-- who speaks a kind word or does a kindness.
This is the entire gospel in all its fragrant essence.
TW+