One of Jesus’ most popular parables is that of the Good Samaritan. Most of us know the story: a man is attacked while traveling and left for dead on the side of the road. Afterward, a series of travelers pass him as he is laying in the road. The first two are a priest and a Levite who go around him. The third is a Samaritan who takes the poor traveler to an inn, where he tends to his wounds and pays for the man to stay at the inn while he recovers. The whole story is told when Jesus answers a question. Jesus is talking with a group of scholars about God’s law. One asks him which is the most important of the laws. Jesus answers: “Love God with all your heart” is the most important followed by “Love your neighbor as yourself” as the second most important. The scholars follow up by asking: “who is our neighbor?” In the first century Jewish culture, this was a hotly debated topic. Most Jewish people believed that other Jews were their neighbors. The most liberal of Jewish scholars considered Romans to be neighbors. No one in the first century Jewish world considered Samaritans to be neighbors. Jewish people hated Samaritans. Jews who traveled through Samaria would knock the dirt off their shoes when they left the country so they didn’t bring any Samaritan dirt to Israel. So, when Jesus answers “Who’s my neighbor?” by telling the story of the good Samaritan, it’s pretty inflammatory. The good Samaritan is culturally akin to something like “the good member of Isis” (time has just rounded off the sharp points of Jesus’ offensive story.) It’s even more offensive based on the fact that the first 2 guys were a Levite and a priest who walked around the poor, injured traveler. The reason they avoided the guy would’ve been obvious to an ancient Jew. The main reason those 2 guys would be traveling outside of Jerusalem was for the purpose of performing religious rituals in the smaller communities. This would’ve been something they got to do once a year or less. If the injured traveler died while they were helping him, they would’ve become ceremonially unclean and would have been disqualified from their duties until they could be cleansed at the temple. They avoided the injured guy so they could honor God with their ritual. Jesus’ point is that being religious doesn’t make you worthy of love. Rather, being human makes you worthy of love. The hated Samaritan was the one who loved his neighbor, while the highly esteemed religious professionals failed. This isn’t to say that religious observance and worship are evil. Rather, it is a direction to love folks who are difficult to love. Jesus’ explanation of God’s law regarding our neighbors can be life changing. It can prompt us to avoid gossip, revenge, racism, etc. It requires forgiveness and mercy. If we can truly learn to live this way, it will change our hearts to reflect what God meant them to be. Really, hating other people doesn’t affect them at all, rather it only changes us. This isn’t an easy task, but it is worth the investment of effort. It isn’t just a command to obey. It’s a lifestyle to live and a type of person to become.
