THE GOOD SAMARITAN
Jesus once told a story - the Good Samaritan - which has been a
favorite ever since. It is a charming, human-interest story, but at
the same time, it carries a sharp message. All of us are guilty of
committing many types of sin. There are sins of omission - things we
do not do, which we should, and sins of commission - things we do
which we should not. There are sins of the flesh and of the spirit,
open sins and secret sins, and so-called "respectable" sins. It was
a respectable sin that Jesus graphically pointed out in the Parable
of the Good Samaritan.
One of the experts of the Jewish law came to Jesus to give him a
test of his orthodoxy. "Teacher", he asked, "what shall I do to
inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25). What could be more innocent
than that? It is not the first time and probably will not be the
last time that a lawyer phrased a trick question towards Jesus.
Jesus replies to him in his own terms by asking him a question,
"What is written in the Law? How do you read it?"
And, he answered: "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 "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Deut 6:5; Lev 19:18).
The trouble is that no one ever succeeds in doing so! The lawyer
was soon to learn how extreme those demands of the Law are. The
thing is impossible. That is the real point of the story of the Good
Samaritan.
There are four distinct characters in today’s gospel story that
Jesus told. There is the man traveling the road to Jericho, the
victim of a vicious assault by robbers. The Jericho road was a
dangerous road for a lonely traveler as it went through very barren
countryside, with deep ravines, ideal cover for bandits hiding out
in wait for someone to rob. Unfortunately, for him, he was left for
dead by the roadside, stripped of all his possessions.
The other three characters were traveling separately, the opposite
way, to Jerusalem - a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. The priest
and the Levite ignored the plight of the victim, but the Samaritan
had compassion on him and did his utmost to provide help and comfort
in very dangerous circumstances. Jesus did not have to explain the
story to the lawyer - it spoke for itself.
Although Jesus had not said anything disapproving to the lawyer, it
is clear he felt as though he had been rebuked when Jesus asked him,
"Which of these three do you think proved neighbors to the man who
fell among robbers". The only answer he could possibly give was,"
The one who showed mercy on him" (37). He could not bring himself to
say the word "Samaritan".
The religious establishment had added layers of detailed rules to
the Law of Moses without any authority from God. This
self-justification by making up our own rules is something we
probably all have to own up to, in calming our consciences. Let us
look at the techniques illustrated by Jesus in the parable and see
if it points the finger at us!
The first strategy adopted by the priest and the Levite in leaving
the wounded victim to his fate was the "I don not do anybody any
harm" technique. It is simply done by turning God’s positive command
of "love your neighbor" into something less demanding, like "I do
not do anybody any harm". However, the fact that we have not
mistreated our neighbor does not mean that we have shown love to
him.
The priest and the Levite would doubtless justify their lack of real
love and concern by saying that it could have been dangerous for
them to do so - the robbers might still be nearby. They could argue
that it would be unbiblical for them to stop - if the man was in
fact dead they would be ritually defiled and thus unable to perform
their religious functions without going through the inconvenient
procedure of ceremonial cleansing. They could also justify their
neglect of the injured man because their interpretation of the law
of love put them under no obligation to those outside their own race
and religion.
Another well-used strategy is the "Charity begins at home"
technique, by which limits are set in applying God’s command to
love. The Jews of Jesus’ time were into discrimination. We also, in
our day, can easily become selective as to who benefits from
expressions of our Christian love. It is easy to raise barriers as
to who is qualified for our caring. Jesus warned his disciples
against restricting their hospitality to only those who could return
it. It is much harder to show love to those who appear to us as
"unlovely". It is only when we see these "neighbors" as beloved of
God that our self-made barriers will collapse.
We
live in a suffering world. There are people everywhere who are
wounded and hurting. Some have been robbed by parental failure;
others have been left half-dead as a result of their own folly and
choice of evil. Some have been damaged by false teaching or let down
by so-called Christians. We come across them very often in our daily
contacts. We never know when our opportunity will come to be their
"neighbor".
After seeing this portrait of the Good Samaritan, I wonder if you
can think of a person who fully fits the picture? The only one who
matches it completely must be the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It is
rather striking that the previous chapter in the Gospel records that
"Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem" (9:51). It was a journey,
which ended on the Cross. Here is the ultimate model of love. He
cared when caring was expensive. Our guilt was enormous, but on the
Cross, he took on himself all our liabilities and, on the Cross,
paid for us in full.
We
cannot hope to keep the great commandments, "To love God ... and our
neighbor", but having trusted in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, our
calling as Christians is to hear the words of Jesus to the lawyer
who heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan, "Go and do likewise"
(37). It’s not always popular or convenient or cheap to follow the
example of the Good Samaritan, but it is the right way. Amen