Exegesis on the Good Samaritan
...r ritual temple duties. This story poses a challenge to the church—keep the Law of the Torah, or break it by helping one in need. Luke’s story of the Good Samaritan forces everyone to look at their own actions and traditional views of the time and change them according to Jesus’ teaching that we must show compassion to all, regardless of their race or religion. The Strategic Question Luke presents this parable as a controversial dialogue. It can be split into two parts with two teachings. The first part; the lawyer asks Jesus how to gain eternal life, and Jesus answers with the question “what is written in the Law?” The answer is to love God and your neighbor. The teaching is very simple—to obey the commandments and to live life in such a way. The second part of the dialogue raises a deeper question and provokes the controversy. The lawyer asks, “who is my neighbor?” And the story follows of the Samaritan who helps the beaten man, then the lawyer is forced to answer his own question of who is his neighbor. In Luke’s story, it is the religious outsider who ends up showing mercy, therefore creating a complication. Luke forces people to realize that neighbor means any person who demonstrates compassion and humanity. It’s probably not a coincidence that just before the parable, in Luke 9:52-56, Jesus’ messengers are rejected by the Samaritans when they go to Samaria to prepare for Jesus’ coming there. Instead of punishing the Samaritans, Jesus simply went on to another village. This episode is an example of climactic parallelism—it sets up for the next episode with the bigger teaching in the story of the Good Samaritan. Only Luke mentions the Samaritans in the gospel of Luke and Acts, as well as John (only in chapter 4). And all of Luke’s Samaritan texts are placed in the center of his gospel. In chiasm, the center text is the most important part. Luke uses the Samaritan texts to show the beginning of the gentile mission and the divine plan of universal salvation. Evangelizing all nations is a major theme of the gospel. Luke emphasizes the expansion of the church, and the expansion of Christianity among all nations. Luke edits Marks episode of the Torah instructor in the temple in Jerusalem, and changes it to an encounter on the road somewhere on the way to Jerusalem, and puts in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Instead of just presenting the “law of love”, Luke adds the teaching of the what Torah means by the word “neighbor”. Luke reverses the typical roles of his characters. The people whom one would most likely assume would show mercy didn’t; and the person whom everyone hated, did. This comes as a shock, as well as a condemnation of church tradition. Jesus teaches that one should love another no matter what, and this lesson comes not too easily for some. Lukan themes such as social justice, mercy and compassion, living as a community, unconditional love, and universal salvation all apply to this particular story. Luke recorded a story not about a traveler who did a good deed, but a damning criticism of social, racial, and religious superiority. The Theological Question This single passage in Luke could be considered a focal point of Luke’s message. Not only does it answer the question of how to gain eternal life, but it also strongly shows the inhumanity and humanity of people. Love of God and love of neighbor are presented as equal ideas, and therefore should be demonstrated by everyone. The question “Who is my neighbor?” knows no boundaries. This shows the church’s becoming more communal and diverse. People now must look at how they are treating their neighbors, and begin to look blindly at whom they show compassion to. Jesus tests everyone of the time to go beyond personal differences, and to love everyone. It is a lesson that giving and receiving transcend any national or racial barriers. Luke ignores religious denominations, and concentrates on kindness—leaving no room for hatred. The parable is not meant to instruct as much as it is to challenge people and to shatter stereotypes that we have. The way we usually judge someone’s worth is replaced by different criteria. We should pay attention to human need, not to differences. Whenever there is an opportunity to help, we should do so because we are a neighbor. Luke isn’t saying that we should all try to be like Jesus, instead he is emphasizing that we should confront our own judgments of others. When we can do this, we can be a true neighbor, and show compassion to anyone in need. As long as we judge others and remain with stereotypes, we can never really love our neighbor. It is one of the greatest challenges to look at someone different and not assume things, or judge them according to stereotypical views, but that is what Luke challenges us to do. The Contemporary Question If every single person could read only one biblical passage, it should be the parable of the Good Samaritan. Not only is it the epitome of Christian teaching, but also it teaches us how to behave as humans toward each other. The world today is full of inhumanity and injustice, and if we could always keep this story in the back of our minds, it would greatly influence how we treat each other. There are numerous stereotypes about different races, religions, cultures, etc. that unless we can get past them, we can never be a true neighbor to anyone. A person in need is a person in need regardless of what they look like or believe in. And a neighbor can only be a neighbor if they believe that and act upon it. On September 11, 2001, the entire world saw tremendous hatred. A result was the paranoid suspicion of any person who looked like they were Middle Eastern. All of the sudden people were being profiled because of how they looked, or treated unfairly because they were Muslim. During such time of disaster and pain, it was hard to look past our differences and love thy neighbor. It was a time of insecurity and confusion, and therefore people found it very difficult to be without stereotypes, and suspicions. Often driving downtown in my own city I see homeless people, holding signs, or sleeping under bridges without shoes, and I wonder how can one be a neighbor to them? How can I really help them? I think this is a dilemma for many people. Although there are stereotypes of poor and homeless people, like that they are lazy or drug addicts, it is hard to kno...