The Neighborly Samaritan

“Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5)

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18b).

When the scholar of the Law answered Jesus, these are the two commandments that he quoted, one from Deuteronomy and another from Leviticus.  St. Luke records his answer in this way:

“There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’  Jesus said to him, ‘What is written in the law? How do you read it?’  He said in reply, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’  He replied to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this and you will live’” (Luke 10:25-28)

One of the major themes that runs throughout St. Luke’s Gospel is that hearing must result in action.  For instance, in chapter eight, Jesus says “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it” (Luke 8:21b).  St. Luke was a Gentile convert to Christianity.  He had come to believe in Jesus not because he had been an eyewitness but because he had heard the preaching of the apostles.  He had heard and acted upon what he heard.

The parable of the Good Samaritan appears only in the Gospel of St. Luke.  We have become so familiar with this parable that we may miss the tension that exists in this scene.  A “scholar of the Law” addresses Jesus as “Teacher.”  He is testing Jesus.  The crowds have been calling him “Teacher.”  The scholar is trying to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the crowd. 

Jesus answers the scholar’s question with another question, a familiar tactic in this agonistic culture.  Jesus knows he is being tested and throws the test back into the face of the scholar.  The scholar answers the question but asks Jesus to define “neighbor.”  Now we have to understand that the Book of Leviticus, from which the second commandment comes, also defines “neighbor” as “any one of your own people.”  Once again, the scholar is testing Jesus.  The parable of the “good” or “neighborly” Samaritan illustrates the true nature of a neighbor.

A man has been beaten and bloodied by a band of robbers as he made his way from Jerusalem to Jericho.  Both a priest and a Levite, men who work in the Temple, see the bleeding body and ride by it.  Before we come down to heavily on these two, let us remember some of the other commandments contained in the Book of Leviticus, in particular the commandments that define someone as ritually impure if he has touched a bloody body or corpse.  Let’s also remember that if they had stopped to help and the man had died anyway, they could be held responsible for his death.  By riding by, they break no commandments.  They have not done anything wrong.  All they did was to protect themselves from contagion and possible blame.

Jesus then interjects a new character – a Samaritan.  The enmity that existed between Samaritans and Judeans stretched back at least fourteen generations.  The Samaritans were the descendants of those who had been left behind after the Assyrians had beaten Israel and Judah and carried off the able-bodied, the rich, and the influential into slavery.  They left behind the poor, the weak and the elderly.  In order to preserve their lives, they intermarried with other Canaanites.  Intermarriage was strictly forbidden.  When the Jews were released from slavery and returned to Israel, the Samaritans approached them and offered to help them reestablish Jerusalem and its Temple.  They were completely rejected.  From that time onward, the enmity between these two groups festered and grew.  Yet is was a Samaritan who acted when he was the robbers’ victim lying by the roadside.  He set aside his concern for ritual purity and the enmity of hundreds of years to act like a neighbor.

Against the background of hostility and tension that are part of this passage from the Gospel, Jesus teaches the scholar.  While the rules and regulations of ritual purity have been written to protect the community, the law to love God and to love one’s neighbor takes precedence.  The only ones guilty of breaking the commandments are the robbers who set upon the traveler in the first place.  However, only the Samaritan acted as a neighbor even though the victim was an enemy.

Last night I had supper with some priests who live in a nursing home.  We had just celebrated the Sunday Vigil Mass.  One of the priests commented that today’s Gospel fits into our current situation so very well.  We have had enough of violence.  We need to begin to act like neighbors.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

“Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5)

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18b).

When the scholar of the Law answered Jesus, these are the two commandments that he quoted, one from Deuteronomy and another from Leviticus.  St. Luke records his answer in this way:

“There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’  Jesus said to him, ‘What is written in the law? How do you read it?’  He said in reply, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’  He replied to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this and you will live’” (Luke 10:25-28)

One of the major themes that runs throughout St. Luke’s Gospel is that hearing must result in action.  For instance, in chapter eight, Jesus says “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it” (Luke 8:21b).  St. Luke was a Gentile convert to Christianity.  He had come to believe in Jesus not because he had been an eyewitness but because he had heard the preaching of the apostles.  He had heard and acted upon what he heard.

The parable of the Good Samaritan appears only in the Gospel of St. Luke.  We have become so familiar with this parable that we may miss the tension that exists in this scene.  A “scholar of the Law” addresses Jesus as “Teacher.”  He is testing Jesus.  The crowds have been calling him “Teacher.”  The scholar is trying to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the crowd. 

Jesus answers the scholar’s question with another question, a familiar tactic in this agonistic culture.  Jesus knows he is being tested and throws the test back into the face of the scholar.  The scholar answers the question but asks Jesus to define “neighbor.”  Now we have to understand that the Book of Leviticus, from which the second commandment comes, also defines “neighbor” as “any one of your own people.”  Once again, the scholar is testing Jesus.  The parable of the “good” or “neighborly” Samaritan illustrates the true nature of a neighbor.

A man has been beaten and bloodied by a band of robbers as he made his way from Jerusalem to Jericho.  Both a priest and a Levite, men who work in the Temple, see the bleeding body and ride by it.  Before we come down to heavily on these two, let us remember some of the other commandments contained in the Book of Leviticus, in particular the commandments that define someone as ritually impure if he has touched a bloody body or corpse.  Let’s also remember that if they had stopped to help and the man had died anyway, they could be held responsible for his death.  By riding by, they break no commandments.  They have not done anything wrong.  All they did was to protect themselves from contagion and possible blame.

Jesus then interjects a new character – a Samaritan.  The enmity that existed between Samaritans and Judeans stretched back at least fourteen generations.  The Samaritans were the descendants of those who had been left behind after the Assyrians had beaten Israel and Judah and carried off the able-bodied, the rich, and the influential into slavery.  They left behind the poor, the weak and the elderly.  In order to preserve their lives, they intermarried with other Canaanites.  Intermarriage was strictly forbidden.  When the Jews were released from slavery and returned to Israel, the Samaritans approached them and offered to help them reestablish Jerusalem and its Temple.  They were completely rejected.  From that time onward, the enmity between these two groups festered and grew.  Yet is was a Samaritan who acted when he was the robbers’ victim lying by the roadside.  He set aside his concern for ritual purity and the enmity of hundreds of years to act like a neighbor.

Against the background of hostility and tension that are part of this passage from the Gospel, Jesus teaches the scholar.  While the rules and regulations of ritual purity have been written to protect the community, the law to love God and to love one’s neighbor takes precedence.  The only ones guilty of breaking the commandments are the robbers who set upon the traveler in the first place.  However, only the Samaritan acted as a neighbor even though the victim was an enemy.

Last night I had supper with some priests who live in a nursing home.  We had just celebrated the Sunday Vigil Mass.  One of the priests commented that today’s Gospel fits into our current situation so very well.  We have had enough of violence.  We need to begin to act like neighbors.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator