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`Who is my neighbor?'

A Lawyer, Luke 10:29

 

Over and over in the gospel, when someone goes up to Jesus to receive commendations they are given a surprise. One that comes to mind is the rich man who approached Jesus to say how he, the rich man, had kept all the commandments. Rather than a gold star, he's told, "Close, but no cigar." He must give all to the poor. He backpedals away, saddened.

Another example is the lawyer who said, "What do I have to do to gain eternal life?" Jesus asks a question -- as all good teachers do. "What do the scriptures say?" The man has his answer ready and says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

Jesus replies, "You have given the right answer. Do this and you shall live in God."

Not content to stop here, ("wishing to justify himself" as the scripture states) the lawyer said, "Well, ok, but who's my neighbor?"

Jesus gives an answer that almost all of us have heard -- the parable of the Good Samaritan. It's a story we know, but really don't know. First, here's Jesus' response:

"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 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 the inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him, and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.'"

Jesus then asks, "Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?' The lawyer answers, 'The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, 'Go and do likewise.'"

A nice story, yes? Yes, but we miss the power behind it owing to our inability to look back and see how that same story would have sounded to those who heard it for the first time from Jesus.

The priest and the Levite see the man by the side of the road and don't know if he's dead or not. If they were to touch a corpse, the Torah would say that they were unclean for rituals and couldn't fulfill their duties in the Temple. The message is that by clinging to the law -- the rituals and the words -- the Priest does nothing.

Along comes a Samaritan. When the listeners heard that, they must have cringed. The Samaritans were thought to be corrupted even though they claimed guardianship of the Mosaic Law. Here was a person held in contempt, an outsider. The Samaritans, of course, had no great love for those who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the "temple cult." In fact, in Luke 10:52-56 they denied hospitality to Jesus because he was going to Jerusalem.

Yet in this story, it is the outsider, someone who is not a part of a race or religion that is accepted (Samaritans were said to have "false" religion and to be heretics) that is held up as an example of the kind of love found in the kingdom of God. Imagine, if you can, the uproar this kind of talk would have caused. If you have a hard time imagining it, then look around you at the modern lovers of the law who condemn outsiders as not having the true knowledge.

Notice the lawyer's answer to Jesus' question as to who was the true neighbor. He is unable to even utter the word, "Samaritan" and resorts to mumbling, "Well, the one who showed mercy."

To which Jesus replied, "Go and be like the Samaritan."

The message here is revolutionary -- it is a call to the great banquet that includes the very outsiders the "righteous ones" preach against and feel superior too. For those who walk the Christ Path, this is a lesson in being humble, of knowing that God may choose to speak to whomever God wishes in whatever way God desires. In Romans, after all, we read: "God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all..." (Romans 2:14-16).

Peter, backing this up, says in Acts 10:34, ""I truly understand that God shows no partiality but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.."

The message is clear -- God rarely finds displeasure in your heart if the excuse offered up is, "I loved too much, too deeply, too many."

Another point worth mentioning -- contrary to the fundamentalist hope, Christianity is a religion of active love and serving of others, not just a statement of belief. After all, suppose the Samaritan had been of the opinion that the plight of the poor and the ailing is somehow God's will, and that he couldn't really take the time to stop because he was rushing to the Church-meeting and picnic to testify in front of as many people as possible about how he was "born again"?