'Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."'
--Luke 10: 25-37
In Lexington, Kentucky there is a hospital called Good Samaritan, to which I made many pastoral visits when I served there. There’ve also been Good Samaritan Hospitals in Charlotte, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Greensboro, GA to name a few. The Good Samaritan’s name is on civic awards and thrift shops, too. But here’s the thing: the Good Samaritan wasn’t a real person, merely a character in what is likely Jesus’ most famous parable. And what’s crazy is that, despite Jesus never using the term “Good Samaritan,” we have equated this fictitious character with any act of kindness, so much so that it feels like we took a character from a story and turned them into a secularized saint.
An Orthodox icon of the Good Samaritan
There’s nothing wrong with naming something after the Good Samaritan mind you, but it seems the character has been somewhat watered down, and the sharp bite of the parable gets lost, as we end up avoiding its shocking – one might say, threatening – lesson.
That lesson starts with a question. A lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. A valid question and one that we all ask, to some degree, I imagine. But what is eternal life? It’s not heaven, not a physical place that serves as a reward for a life well-lived after we die. Jesus and his contemporaries didn’t believe this, and Jews today still don’t. Maybe the more appropriate question is: what should be my chief goal in life? How am I supposed to live? What must I do to live a life that is pleasing to God? That kind of life can be considered “eternal” because it is holy, a life worthy of the eternal God.
Jesus doesn’t answer – he seldom does – instead he lets the lawyer answer his own question by quoting the Torah, specifically Deuteronomy 6: 4 and Leviticus 19: 18. Christians call this the Summary of the Law, and a lot of spiritual-but-not-religious folks call it the Golden rule: love God (that's from Deuteronomy), love your neighbor (that's from, believe it or not, Leviticus).
Then comes the kicker: who is my neighbor? And that is the question that leads into the parable of the Good Samaritan. Who is my neighbor? Who is the one that I must love in order to have eternal life, in order to live a life that is pleasing to God?
We all know the story that comes next. A man goes down to Jericho Road, the most dangerous road in 1st century Palestine, and he is beaten and robbed and left for dead. Two people walk by – a priest and a Levite – and they do nothing. A Samaritan comes by and helps the man, taking him to an inn so he has a place to stay, bandaging his wounds, and seeing to it that he is taken care of. It is this man that acts as a neighbor to the one in need. Go and do likewise, Jesus tells the lawyer.
“Go and be a Good Samaritan,” is what we hear, but for Jesus’ audience there was no such thing as a “good” Samaritan. They were of a different culture, ethnicity, and religion from Jews, they were worse than Gentiles, bound for Gehenna and torment, as much of an Other, as much of a “them” as one could be. You want us to emulate someone like THAT, Jesus? You can’t be serious! That would’ve been the reaction of those who heard this story, and I’d guess several would’ve walked away shaking their heads, insisting that this guy was out of his mind; he’d just gone too far.
But yeah, that is who Jesus wants them – and us – to emulate. What specifically does the Samaritan do? Did you catch how the Samaritan takes notice of the wounded person, unlike the priest or Levite? They see someone unclean, someone they dare not get near. The Samaritan sees someone in need, sees his humanity and acknowledges it. He doesn’t just walk on feeling sorry for him, and he doesn’t ask, “Well, what did you do to get yourself in this mess?” He offers care, no matter what.
There is clearly a responsibility here that goes way beyond just being nice. Our modern context has lost the punch of this story. Maybe it would help us to think of the Samaritan as a Muslim or an atheist, and the individual in the ditch as a queer person, or someone wearing a MAGA hat,, then we might hear it the way Jesus intended; that is to say, go and emulate the person of a different religion or ethnicity from you and help the person who is the complete opposite of you in terms of lifestyle or values.
Who is your neighbor??
It’s not a suggestion, it’s the answer to the question that began the reading: what must I do to inherit eternal life? That’s it. Not, what must I do to go to heaven when I die, but what must I do to live a life now worthy of the eternal God. Look to this story, and go and do likewise. Don’t just see someone as your neighbor, but go and be a neighbor to someone.
If it sounds hard it’s because it is hard. That’s the point of Jesus’ teachings. If we are looking for easy answers, we’re not going to find them in Jesus. C.S. Lewis once said that he didn’t come to Christianity because it made him feel good, he could get that in a bottle of port. It takes a particular kind of love, the kind Jesus preaches and embodies, to be a neighbor and see others as your neighbor. “The issue is not about right or wrong,” the Rev. Will Campbell said, “it’s human tragedy, and in a tragedy you can’t take up sides; you just have to minister to the hurt wherever you find it…and if you’re gonna love one, you gotta love all.”
In this time of division, the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades, the invitation to act as a neighbor to every person we meet – religiously, politically, socially, morally - and to love, not just one but all, is about as radical now as Jesus telling his followers to emulate a made-up Samaritan. But we need that good news. We need that example.
The Rev Fred Rogers knew a little something about neighbors. He taught my generation that, when things are bad look for the helpers and if possible, be one yourself. He also said that we live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. “It’s easy,” he said, “to say, ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my problem.’ But it’s harder to see such needs and respond. I consider those people my heroes.” It’s saying something when Mr. Rogers, a hero to many of us, describes what his heroes look like. Sounds a lot like the Good Samaritan, who may not have been real, but he, or she, or they, is a symbol for us all, a bold character, who invites us to emulate such a radical kind of love and hospitality. This is the way of Jesus, the way of love, the way that leads to actual eternal life right here and right now. Won’t you be such a neighbor?
When in doubt, it helps to remember what this guy said.
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