Who Is My Neighbor?
In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus reveals the deeply held bias to allow His listeners the opportunity to see a broader perspective.
The question, “Who is my neighbor?”, is loaded with a long held prejudice and blindness to how God wants us to love.
This is the second part of a blog post on the Good Samaritan, if you have not, I recommend reading The Perspective of Jesus first.
Here is that famous story with its cast of characters and major plot twist…
“And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his clothes, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
And on the next day when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatever thou spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.
Which now of these three, do you think was neighbor to him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”
A Narrow Road For A Host Of Characters
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho...
This 18 mile “road” from Jerusalem to Jericho (3500 ft elevation drop) was a narrow path with cliff edges, steep drop offs and long, wilderness stretches. (check out a great video from Sergio and Rhoda in Israel about this road) Seeing this road makes me chuckle in a certain point of Jesus’ story.
The route was scarcely populated and was home to bandits looking to ambush travelers. It was the main route for people traveling up to Jerusalem from Jericho including nearly half of all the priests and levites which lived in Jericho when not serving at the temple.
So this was the road, now let us look at a little about our characters…
And by chance a Priest was going down on that road... And likewise a Levite also...
In order to be a Priest, you had to be born into the right family. Specifically sons, from the line of Aaron on the father’s side. If you had no bodily defects you were able to enter into the priesthood at 20 years of age.
Levites also were workers in the tabernacle and temple. They were sons from the line of Levi, not only Aaron.
Both of them were highly aware of ritual purity and were required to remain in a state of cleanliness.
Numbers 19 outlines what they had to do if they touch a dead body. A time consuming and costly process to become clean and able to serve again. (7 days) But ritual purity was not a valid reason for neglecting a person in need. Either they just didn’t want the inconvenience of helping or they did not extend their definition of “loving your neighbor” to the injured man.
But a Samaritan who was on a journey... HE felt COMPASSION...
This twist in the story possibly offended or embarrassed the lawyer and those who were listening. The expectation was that Jesus would introduce the third character as an Israelite or even better a Pharisee. This progression from Priest to Levite to Israelite followed a very common formula and would have been a shock to hear that the third traveler was not a Jew but a Samaritan.
A Samaritan, often called “half-breed” were Jewish people who intermarried with foreigners brought in by the Assyrians to settle in the region after the exile of Israel.
The Enemy Shows To Be The Neighbor
There was no love lost between Israelites and Samaritans (read stories from John 4 or Luke 9). In fact they saw them not only as outsiders but as mortal enemies.
Jesus then asks, Which of these 3 do you think proved to be a neighbor...
I imagine the people hearing this story for the first time were left scratching their heads. There was no one with whom they could identify.
They couldn’t identify with the Priest or the Levite, because they had been merciless. And it would be inconceivable to identify with the Samaritan. That would mean we must accept the compassion and mercy of a mortal enemy.
No, only the Samaritan behaved like a neighbor and demonstrated the attitude of love commanded in Leviticus 19:18, 34. This strangely parallels a story found in 2 Chronicles.
“Then the men who were designated by name got up, took the captives, and they clothed all their naked people from the spoils; they gave them clothes and sandals, fed them and gave them drink, anointed them with oil, led all their feeble ones on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers; then they returned to Samaria.”
The Painful But Necessary Point Of The Story
Jesus tells this story to get the lawyer, the crowd and us to question our values and how we live them out in the world. We say we love God and should love our neighbor, yet how often do we not have “time” for people around us.
I am not looking to offend you, but this story from the Lord should challenge how we think, understand and act toward others in the world.
Notice when the lawyer answers he does not say “the Samaritan”. Maybe his embarrassment would not allow him to say it.
He simply replies…the one who showed mercy.
Imagine if Jesus had not challenged the lawyer’s perceptions, he goes home reinforced in his black-and-white world of who is in and who is out thinking.
And Jesus invites us, no actually commands us to do the same. “Go and do likewise.”
Jesus says in Mark 12:31 “Love your neighbor.” He also says in Matthew 5:44, “love your enemy.”
So logically, it follows…
Love Your Neighbor + Love Your Enemies = Even Your Enemy Is Your Neighbor
This story was told to challenge our own spiritual apathy. Just knowing and giving the right religious answers is not the point. Sitting comfortably in the knowledge we are on the “inside” is not the point.
Knowing WHAT to do, but NOT DOING anything put us in the company of the merciless.
Learning to love others through our actions, even to those we deem “outside”, is the point of walking like Christ.
