How many times have I read this story of the Good Samaritan? One thousand? Two? It has only been quite recently that I noticed something new. First of all, you may or may not know that the Samaritans were related to the Isrealites, and had broken off from them because they chose to worship not just Yahweh, but a host of other gods on the mountaintops. The Isrealites and Judeans did not get along with them. Thus the Samaritan spoken of here would have been someone no self-respecting Priest or Levite would want to be around. This I already knew. It made the story of the Samaritan woman at the well so much more poignant, since Jesus should not have been talking to her not just because she was a woman, but also because she was Samaritan.
If you read the chapter before this, though, in Chapter 9, Luke mentions that Jesus sends messengers to try to find a place to stay in a Samaritan city, and is rejected. This story is clearly much later than the Good Samaritan, as it talks about the time just before Jesus rides into Jerusalem for the last time, but it points out something interesting about Jesus. The Samaritans in the city probably rejected Jesus because he was heading into Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. Since all Jews of his days worshipped at the temple in Jerusalem, the Samaritans must have resented all pilgrims. His disciples ask if they should call down fire from heaven to destroy the city, and Jesus tells them no. He is not there to destroy people, but to save them. The kind of compassion that is mentioned in the story of the Samaritan city is also reflected in the story of the Good Samaritan.
In this story, Jesus is confronted by a lawyer. This lawyer has kept the letter of the law, and wants approval. Luke says he wants to be "justified." In order to be justified, he makes the mistake of asking Jesus who his neighbor is. Jesus turns his world upside-down. The lawyer is probably expecting to be told that his neighbor is whoever is living on either side of his house. In his rich, complacent little world, the Biblical equivalent of a gated community, he finds it quite easy to be kind to those inhabiting the best part of town. One can almost see the shock on his face after hearing what Jesus has to say.
Jesus did not simply preach. He lived what he preached. When confronted by people planning to stone a woman for adultery, he showed compassion for her. It is very much like Jesus that he chooses to use an example of someone scorned and avoided in Jewish society to show that compassion is universal. The Samaritans are heretics in the eyes of the Jews.
Who is our neighbor? Our neighbor is anyone willing to use his savings and resources in order to help us in our hour of need, regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or gender. This is a hard message for someone secluded by wealth and surrounded by legalisms. Well, Jesus never said it would be easy. In fact, he said it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. But though Christ, all things are possible.
We aren't told whether or not the lawyer obeyed Jesus when he says "Go and do likewise." I hope he did.
Amen