The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 is probably the most popular yet least understood parables of Jesus. Not all of Jesus’ parables have a setting, but this one does and it is important if we are to understand the meaning of the parable.
A lawyer, or expert in the Old Testament Law, has come to argue the unschooled Nazarene carpenter under the table with a question—“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus responds, “You are the expert here. You tell me how you read the law?”
The lawyer replies, “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.”
Jesus says, “You have answered correctly, do this, and your will live.”
The tendency of legalists then and now is to break down love for God and one’s neighbor into manageable lists and categories. Wanting to justify himself the lawyer asks Jesus a second question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus, however, will not be drawn into a debate about who qualifies as a neighbor and who doesn’t. In fact, he changes the question completely from “Who is my neighbor” to “What kind of neighbor am I?” And he does it with a story!
Jesus’ parables were designed to get a response and not just to teach simple lessons. They often contain an “element of surprise” or unexpected twist that had we been their listening with first century ears would have caught us completely off-guard. Here is one way that the parable of the Good Samaritan might be re-told to catch a bit of that “element of surprise” for a modern audience:
“A man was driving from Nashville to Chattanooga when he decided to stop at a road-side ATM. As he withdrew money from the ATM some men mugged him—stripping him, beating him, and leaving him half-dead in a pool of blood. Pulling up to the ATM first is a Catholic priest who upon seeing the man lying in pool of blood quickly drives off. Shortly after a Protestant minister also pulls up, sees the man, and quickly drives off. The next man coming down the road is the local leader of next year’s gay pride parade…or a Muslim cleric who has moved into town to start a Mosque…or your ex-husband or ex-wife…or the man your wife is sleeping with. And upon seeing the man lying in the pool of blood they have compassion on him—they bind up his wounds, lay him on the back seat of their recently detailed car, and take him to a nearby medical aid clinic where they also agree to pay all out-of-pocket costs not covered by this man’s insurance.”
OUCH! The real question Jesus is asking is not would you help a man lying half-dead in a ditch, but do you love your enemies? The Jews and the Samaritans were enemies. With this “element of surprise” Jesus obliterated all of this lawyer’s neat little categories of love and revealed his hypocrisy of heart.
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