The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Frankly speaking, I must have written this gospel story so many times in the past that if I merely copied, cut and pasted it today, I’m sure that our faithful readers wouldn’t even notice it. But then I would be committing the sin of sloth or indolence if I did that. So we shall discuss the message that our Lord Jesus Christ is trying to impart to all of us in this Parable of the Good Samaritan, which you can find in your bibles on Luke 10: 25-37.

“25 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test [Jesus] and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” 27 He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

28 He replied to him, “You have answered correctly, do this and you will live.”

29 But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped him and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.

32 Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. 33 But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. 34 He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him.

35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ 36 Which of these three in your opinion, was neighbor to the robber’s victim?” 37 He answered back, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

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So what is our Lord telling us in this parable? It is easy to simply read this whole text and give the answer as written in the last sentence “Go and do likewise.” But let me point out first why our Lord referred to a Good Samaritan? Why not a good Jew for this story? Well, surely by now, we Catholics already know that the Jews and the Samaritans were like cats and dogs, they could never get along with each other. But I’m not repeating the story why these two people cannot get along because we already wrote that in the previous article about the Good Samaritan.

The message here is crystal clear. First of all, our Lord was being questioned by a scholar of the law, meaning the fellow was a lawyer and therefore he would have been quite legalistic. Secondly, the Jews believed themselves to be the chosen people of God and therefore, they are “entitled” to eternal life because of the love of God for his chosen people.

In fact, before our Lord gave the parable, he asked the scholar of the law… “What is written in the law or how do you read it?” The lawyer then gave him the “Shema”, which in Hebrew, “Shema Yisrael, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad”, means, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One” and you shall Love God will all your heart…. etc. etc.” This is the prayer that every devout Jew from that time and even today recite when he wakes up in the morning and before he goes to bed to sleep. That is written in the law.

But instead, our Lord Jesus Christ gave this rather very simple story of a man who was victimized by robbers, but a Jewish priest and a Levite who serves the Lord tried to avoid the fallen man. Then of all the people who would pass by, it had to be a hated Samaritan who stopped and washed his wounds with oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his animal to go to a nearby inn. Then the following day, he gave money and instructions to the innkeeper to take good care of him and that if he spends more than he was already given, the Samaritan would reimburse him later.

There can be no doubt that if we all loved God as the Jews would recite in the Shema, and learned to love our neighbor as ourselves, we can gain eternal life. But did the Lord really say that this was the way to eternal life? Perhaps you should open your Bible to the passage on Mark 12: 28-34 when he met with the scribes who asked him what was the greatest commandment. In the end, it still went back to the Shema. But this time our Lord told the scribes “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

How then do we really earn eternal life? Please turn your bibles to John 6: 53-54, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” Our Lord Jesus Christ said this plainly and clearly for all to understand.

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