Bible Studies for Life
Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Samford University
Go and Do
Luke 10:25–37
The parable of the good Samaritan epitomizes the Christian life. Christ commands us to love our neighbor, and this parable illustrates the characteristics of neighborly love.
The Lawyer (25–29)
Lawyers played an important role in first-century Palestine. They interpreted and applied the Scriptures to civil and criminal issues. Thus the lawyer in the story knew the Law of Moses, but he asked about inheriting eternal life. Jesus exposed his deception. The Law, which the lawyer knew, was clear about the requirement: Love God thoroughly and your neighbor as yourself. The lawyer did not quibble over the first part. It was the second part that he thought he could find a way around: “Who is my neighbor?” In his mind, he could show his love of God by just formally going through the rituals and reciting the religious platitudes but loving his neighbor required real involvement and risk. He wanted to justify himself by showing that he already was doing enough to merit eternal life, and so he asked sarcastically, “Who is my neighbor?” However, Jesus knew his hypocrisy and gave the parable to expose it.
The Priest and Levite (30–32)
Jesus purposely used the characters to make His point about who is a neighbor. The priest and Levite saw the man robbed and left dying, and they walked on the other side. They did not show neighborly love.
Jesus picked two of the most honorable professions to illustrate the failure of neighborly love. Though the priest and Levite were important and probably very decent people, salvation requires another quality that their lives lacked.
The Samaritan (33–35)
Jesus deliberately used the Samaritan as the one exemplifying the kind of neighborly love that creates eternal life. Samaritans, who were of mixed races and had their own religious practice in Samaria, were racial outcasts, and the man broke civil and religious laws being so near Jerusalem and touching the Jew left dying on the roadside. He took great risk to show the care he did. He knew what it meant to be oppressed and rejected, and thus, when he saw another human being suffering, he transmuted his own suffering into compassion and took the chance to show neighborly love.
Jesus used the Samaritan to make the point that neighborly love extends beyond race, social class, age group and nationality. The citizenship of neighbors encompasses all people who suffer and need support and justice. We should not look only for those who look like us to show love.
The parable emphasizes that the Samaritan goes beyond what is expected. He offered to pay the innkeeper all the man’s debts when he traveled back through. His love was abundant self-expenditure. He kept giving of his time, money and safety. He did not worry about or calculate his own reward or security. True neighborly love does not expect to be repaid or promoted because of the service. Such abundant love reveals in a partial way the reality of eternal life. If we want to know how eternal life looks, then we should look at the good Samaritan. Though the priest and Levite are good and respectable people, they lacked an essential characteristic of eternal life: neighborly love.
Jesus and the Good Samaritan (36–37)
The conclusion is another commandment — “do likewise.” The good Samaritan is a model of the disciple. But is the good Samaritan more than a model? All people are limited and hindered by circumstance and their wills to bind their own wounds, escort themselves to safety, heal their frail states and pay their debts. All humanity needs a good Samaritan to save it from the thieves, sin, death and the devil. In truth, humanity is like the dying man on the roadside. Jesus is the actual good Samaritan. God is our true neighbor who saves us. We have the prospects of life and hope because of the abundant self-expenditure of God in Christ. We can be neighbors to others only because Jesus is first the good Samaritan to us.
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