The Parable of the Good Samaritan
It's about so much more than being a simple "Do-Gooder!" It refers to the question "who is my neighbor?"
| This wasn't about a simple do-gooder. This was more like Yassar Arafat coming across an injured Ariel Sharon after Sharon had been ignored and left for dead by his own people, then rendering him aid without expecting anything in return. |
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The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37 25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27He answered: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, `Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." 29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  33But
a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he
took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil
and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took
care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to
the innkeeper. `Look after him,' he said, `and when I return, I will
reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." NIV |
To
really understand this one must realize that the Samaritans of the day were
to the Jews as Palestinans are today -- if not even more so. The Jews not
only looked down upon these foreigners who had been transplanted into
"their" land, but they had nothing whatsoever to do with them. The
Samaritans were as lepers to the Jews. For Jesus, a Rabbi, to even speak to
a woman, let alone a Samaritan woman, was a total breach of religious
protocol. That He asked for water from her was beyond belief. It would have
been like the late Senator Strom Thurmond drinking from the "Coloreds Only"
fountain.
John
4:4-9 That is why this is such a vital parable for the Commandments of Jesus. It has to do with breaking out of the box of tribalism and into the broad spectrum of God's creation. Christianity is not about exclusion, but inclusion. It is not about conformity, but about the celebration of diversity. All, man and woman, slave and free, Gentile and Jew are ONE in God's eyes. AND, I might add, black, white or otherwise, heterosexual or homosexual, earthling or extraterrestrial. We are all neighbors! No one is better than anyone else. Maybe that's the whole point of the matrix of life. |
Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"
8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)