Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-may-25-2023
Luke 10:25-37
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 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.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
The further I go in the life of faith, the more interested I get in the parables of Jesus. They are such an effective way of communicating the principles of the faith, and they also have the benefit of being easy for us to remember and pass along. Most followers of Jesus (and even most preacher types) make a mess of it when we try to explain doctrines like “substitutionary atonement” or “realized eschatology,” but we can do a reasonable job of telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
You really don’t even have to be able to explain “what it means.” I’m pretty sure Jesus wants us to think about his parables and reflect on what they’re saying to us. So we can just share how we understand them to fit into the teachings of Jesus, and let people reflect on what lessons a particular parable might have for them.
And the Parable of the Good Samaritan points to a number of different aspects of the idea of love, as we’re commanded to love God and our neighbor
In our passage for today, Jesus tells the parable because an “expert in the law” asked him the question, “Who is my neighbor?” (And, by the way, the ‘law’ this guy was an expert in was the law of Moses – the Old Testament Torah.) Probably the real answer Jesus intends to give is that everyone is our neighbor, especially anyone who needs our help.
But the Parable of the Good Samaritan makes some meaningful points about the subject of love in general. The love Jesus is talking about here is the love indicated by the Greek word agape, which isn’t romantic love or affection. It’s a commitment to the welfare of another person. That’s why Jesus could use the word in commanding us to love our enemies – you can love another person in that sense even if you don’t like them.
The first thing we might notice about the kind of love Jesus is commanding us to show is that it requires us to do something. The Samaritan treats the man’s wounds, lifts him up, and puts him on his donkey. He goes beyond “thoughts and prayers” and takes action to help the man.
Next, this kind of love involves sacrifice. The Samaritan used his own oil and wine as medicine in caring for the man’s wounds. He paid the innkeeper out of his own pocket for the wounded man’s care. And of course, he sacrificed some of his own time and attention in providing help. So there was a cost to the kind of love the Samaritan man demonstrated.
The love the Samaritan showed the man also carried a certain amount of risk. The story took place on a dangerous road known to be frequented by bandits. It could have been a trap with a gang of bandits hiding nearby. Or the injured man could have turned out to be a freeloader, and stayed at the inn at the Samaritan’s expense long after he was well enough to move on. But the Samaritan took those risks.
So the kind of love Jesus described in this parable – the kind he’s telling us to show – has elements of action, cost and risk.
It’s easy to imagine that some people might say that it was the man’s own fault that he was attacked – what was he doing traveling alone on such a dangerous road? But agape love requires us to respond to the needs of others even if we think they foolishly brought their troubles on themselves. That one sticks a little going down – we don’t like being asked to help someone who’s to blame for their own problems. But of course, Jesus died for our sins even though we are responsible for the burden of sin we bear.
And there’s no ignoring the ethnic aspect of this parable. It seems that the Samaritan saw the injured man as his neighbor.
But it seems to me we’re meant to understand that the victim of the robbery in the parable was a Jew. The Jews regarded the Samaritans as racially and spiritually inferior to themselves. So it seems to me that this parable sort of nudges us toward a really radical conclusion – that our neighbors, the ones we’re commanded to love and whose welfare we’re meant to take responsibility for, include those who despise us.
It’s not hard to show love and charity to those who like and respect us. But what about someone who says, “Get away from me! I don’t need any help from your kind!”? That’s exactly the kind of thing a good Jew might have said if he found himself being ministered to by a Samaritan.
It seems hard to escape the uncomfortable conclusion that in answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus showed that he wants his followers to show his radical love – risky, costly, active love – even to those who might not welcome or appreciate it.
There really is a lot to think about in this parable, isn’t there?
Let’s pray. Lord, help us to love as you have commanded us to – to love our neighbors and our enemies as well as our family and friends, and to love even when our love carries risks and costs. And help us to love even those who hate and reject us. In other words, help us to love as Jesus loved. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 7 and 8; Ezekiel 18:1-4 and 19-32; and Hebrews 7:18-28. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
Recent Comments