Justice ParablesSample

The Good Samaritan

Rev. Quincy C. Hobbs, Jr.

Zion Hill Baptist Church

In this story, Jesus is dialoguing with a Jewish lawyer concerning the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus was being tested by the lawyer on this subject, but he turned it into a teachable moment. The lawyer asked Jesus a question on how one gains eternal life. His motive was to prove Jesus’s teaching weak and false and lead the people away from Jesus. Jesus knew this and challenged him to check the Law of Moses for the answer. The lawyer quoted the law to Jesus. Jesus affirmed the lawyer’s response and told him to do what the law says in order to live.

The lawyer understood Jesus’s answer, but he was not interested in applying it. He asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29 KJV). In other words, how far does one have to extend this love to a neighbor? The lawyer knew that the Jewish law placed certain conditions on every situation and every relationship. Complying with these stipulations was vital to Jewish identity. Instead of engaging in a debate, Jesus told a parable to challenge not only the lawyer’s motive but also to help his audience rightly interpret the law.

Jesus provides a parable, a type of story that teaches the mysteries of God’s kingdom to the disciples and keeps them hidden from unbelievers. He describes a journey of a Jewish man who travels a road that was commonly used by government and religious officials to make trips from Jerusalem to Jericho. On this road criminals often took advantage of those perceived to have valuables. The traveler took this road and was preyed upon by robbers who beat him, stole his clothes, and left him half dead.

Jesus continues the parable: Three individuals saw this ill-clad and wounded traveler lying on the roadside. The first two were Jewish religious leaders, a priest and a Levite, who knew God and his law but did nothing to help the wounded man. There are examples today of those in positions of leadership in religious communities who see those wounded economically, physically, socially, and spiritually and encourage them to pray, but who do little or nothing to show charity. It is difficult for a wounded person to pray when down and out, but he or she will be more inclined to do so if his or her immediate needs are addressed.

The third individual was the Samaritan who came along, saw the wounded traveler, and showed compassion by taking him to a safe place and paying for his care. The Jews and Samaritans were enemies. But here, a Samaritan helped a Jew who had been ignored by fellow Jews. The Samaritan showed love and risked his own life to rescue this man. The hero of the story represents a people that the Jews hate. By his actions, he was more neighborly than the other passers-by and was clearly the one to be imitated. He demonstrated God’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves. This command stands today.

In another instance, Jesus gives one reason our love must be demonstrated. He told his disciples, “By this all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another” (John 13:35 NKJV). Jesus asks the lawyer to identify the one who acted like a neighbor in this case. The lawyer correctly identifies the one who showed mercy to the traveler. The actions of the Samaritan were symbolic of God’s indiscriminate mercy towards humanity. And as recipients of such mercy, we should be willing to be a neighbor to everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, pedigree, social status, education, and the like. This was the message of the parable and a core teaching of Jesus Christ.

We should be careful not to be swayed by the callousness and selfishness that seem to pervade our society. For God’s people, extending love and mercy should not be an afterthought. I conclude with the words of W. W. Wiersbe in his commentary on Luke: “to the thieves, this traveling Jew was a victim to exploit, so they attacked him. To the priest and Levite, he was a nuisance to avoid, so they ignored him. But to the Samaritan, he was a neighbor to love and help, so he took care of him. What Jesus said to the lawyer, he says to us: ‘Go and keep on doing it likewise.’ ”

Questions

• How does Jesus use the social positions of the characters in this parable to drive home his teaching?
• How can this parable be used as a guidepost in addressing the treatment of illegal aliens, the homeless, the poor, and the disenfranchised in our society?
• What do you think Jesus would say about today’s most influential leaders in religious institutions, local, state, and national government agencies, and scholars, relative to this parable?