Bible Studies for Life
Associate Professor of Religion, Samford University
Indifference or Compassionate Action?
Luke 10:25–37
In this text Jesus continues His journey toward Jerusalem. Last week’s lesson emphasized the high cost of discipleship, and this week’s familiar story is best understood in the light of this call to total commitment on the part of Jesus’ followers.
Ask the Right Questions (25–29)
Luke’s account differs from those of Matthew and Mark. In those Gospels the question put to Jesus concerns which commandment is most important (Matt. 22:36; Mark 12:28). In Luke the stakes of the lawyer’s question are more personal: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Experts in religious law frequently debated which commandments took precedence over others, and it was common practice to answer a question with a question, as Jesus does here.
Luke tells us the lawyer was “testing” (alternately, “tempting”) Jesus, which could imply a wish to undermine Jesus’ authority or possibly an earnest search to see if Jesus’ claims were genuine. In either case Jesus affirms the lawyer’s response, a combination of two passages from the Torah (Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18), slightly expanded to include loving God with the mind as well as the heart, soul and might.
This small addition speaks volumes about the need to bring the whole of ourselves, including our intellect, into the service of God. Simply knowing God’s law is not enough. It is one thing to affirm loving one’s neighbor in the abstract, but quite another when faced with real people in need.
Don’t Make Excuses (30–32)
The treacherous trip from Jerusalem to Jericho meant descending in elevation about 3,200 feet over 17 miles. Though such a harsh journey seems foreign to modern readers, Jesus’ hearers would have recognized the trip and the circumstances as common.
Jesus offers no reason why both the priest and the Levite failed to render aid, though they may have worried about becoming ritually unclean if the wounded man turned out to be dead (Num. 19:11). If we look for ways to limit the reach of our charity, we usually find them. Opportunities to help the hurting rarely arise according to our schedule, or in the manner we desire.
Respond in the Right Way (33–37)
Although they begin with everyday settings, Jesus’ parables inject the remarkable into the commonplace. Here what is unusual is the nationality of the compassionate man. The parable would have been challenging enough had the hero been simply a fellow Israelite who helped and thus showed up the religious leaders. Although descended from common ancestors, the Samaritans and Jews maintained a well-rehearsed mutual enmity that reached back for centuries. Jesus Himself understood them to be “foreigners” (Luke 17:18), though in John’s Gospel He has a remarkable theological exchange with a woman of Samaria concerning the worship of God (John 4:16–26).
By making a Samaritan the hero in His story, Jesus challenges His hearers to examine the limits of their own charity. The chapter of Leviticus that commands love for neighbors includes a revealing parallel passage: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (Lev. 19:33–34a). The love of the alien was to be rooted in Israel’s own experience of slavery and oppression. By extension, our love of neighbor should stem from the recognition of our common impoverishment and need for divine grace.
Laws often provide a basis for limiting charity; we take solace in doing what we must, not what we should. Instead of rules which give us a way out, we need compassion that surpasses the mere demands of the law, or even subverts it where necessary, in the interest of answering the call of the divine love.
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