Luke 10: 29 37 The Good Samaritan
Target year level: Prep, Year Two, Year Four
Scripture text
Luke 10:29-37
Introduction
The Gospel of Luke is the first of a two-part work, Luke-Acts, which is sometimes thought of as a novel in two parts. The gospel gives an account of the life and mission of Jesus and the Book of Acts tells the story of the rapid expansion of the early church.
The two books were probably written in the latter decades of the first century. Even though the works are anonymous, authorship is traditionally attributed to Luke. Today, many scholars accept that the author was an inhabitant of Antioch in Syria and a companion of Paul.
Luke was writing for Greek speaking, gentile(non-Jewish) Christians. Luke’s interpretation of events is influenced by his desire to show how Christianity is compatible with citizenship in the Roman Empire, that is, how one can believe in Jesus and, at the same time, be loyal to (if not worship) the emperor.
The author paints a portrait of Jesus who is the fulfilment of God’s promises to Israel. The promises are fulfilled in unexpected ways, in that they include everyone: Jews and gentiles, men and women, tax collectors and outcasts. Luke draws Jesus as hospitable and caring for the poor and the marginalised. Mary and a number of women disciples play an important part in the Gospel.
For further information, see the Teacher Background information, Who wrote the Gospels and when? and the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Introduction to Luke.
World behind the text
This parable is unique to Luke's Gospel and reflects Luke's stress on Jesus' attitude to the marginalized, here, the foreigner. The parable is triggered by a lawyer trying to catch Jesus out by testing his ability to interpret the Jewish Scriptures and solve the human puzzle of how to receive 'eternal life'. Jesus turns the question back on the lawyer, who in response quotes two Hebrew Bible / Old Testament love commandments:
The lawyer then poses the key question, 'Who is my neighbour?' Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-34 do not include this parable. A similar dialogue presents the double love commandment, but is introduced by a question about what is the greatest or first commandment.
The lawyer's desire to justify his previous question (v.29) may show he felt foolish for having asked a question that he then had to answer himself. He therefore presses for further clarification. The term translated here as 'neighbour' means 'one who is near'. This does not refer to everyone and Leviticus 19:18 does not advocate love of everyone, although usually it was interpreted as referring to fellow Jews. So, there was a legitimate reason for the lawyer to be seeking clarification for the question.
This parable is echoed in Luke 17:11-19 where only the Samaritan leper returns to give thanks for the healing. Again, this is a story unique to Luke. Does it hint at the future reception of the gospel by the Samaritans? (Acts 8:4-25)
'Parable' comes from the Greek meaning 'to place side by side'. A story from everyday life is placed alongside a spiritual truth. There is one main point to a parable. The detail is not intended to have specific meaning and is not to be seen as promoting a secular moral point. The theme of Jesus' teaching is the Kingdom of God and the parables describe aspects of what the kingdom of God is like.
Parables were a useful method of teaching because, as stories from everyday life, they could be easily remembered and repeated. Hearers could interpret them at their own level. Parables have layers of meaning for the hearer to discover.
World of the text
The Lawyer
The lawyer would be an expert in Jewish law, the Torah, which was seen as God's gift to the Jews to instruct them how to live in God's way. Having a prestigious social and religious position, the lawyer would need to demonstrate his authority and power to the crowd and in attempting to catch Jesus out publicly, he appears arrogant and unreceptive to Jesus' message.
There is subtle irony in the lawyer's omitting the term 'Samaritan' and referring to him as 'the one who showed him mercy' (v.37). He may have wished to avoid using the term or he may have realised the label did not matter but the action did!
The Priest
The Priest and the Levite represent archetypal Israelites.
The priest could be returning from a period of duty in the Temple to his home in the country (cf Luke 1:23). Jericho was one of the main country residences for priests. The priest might have passed by because:
- He feared that he, too, would be ambushed.
- Believing the man was dead, he wished to avoid defiling himself by touching the body (Leviticus 21:1-3 states that a priest should not defile himself through contact with the dead except nearest kin).
- He was heartless. The man was not dead. The Mishnah (Jewish commentary) views a neglected corpse (e.g. one abandoned by the road) as a special case, even for a high priest, so he could have helped.
The Levite
In New Testament times, the Levites (v.32) were an order of cultic officials, inferior to priests but still a privileged group in Jewish society. They were responsible for liturgy in the Temple and for policing it. (Numbers 3:5f; 8:23-26; 18).
The Man
The man in the parable (v.30) is not identified by his status or culture. His need is what is important. A Jewish audience would doubtless have identified him as a Jew.
The Samaritan
The third passer-by would be expected to be a Jewish lay person, i.e. going down in rank, and giving the parable an anti-clerical slant. Instead the parable deliberately refers to a person from a community hated by the Jews.
Samaritans were a mixed race of imported Assyrians and Israelites who remained in Israel after most were deported to other parts of the Assyrian empire. Their name came from Samaria, the capital city of the north of Israel at a time when it was separate from the south (Judah).
They observed the rite of circumcision, the Sabbath requirements and the Jewish festivals, but denied the Jewish priesthood and refused to accept Jerusalem as the place where the Temple to God should stand.
In exile, the Jews from Judah had tightened their Jewish practice in an effort to maintain their identity in a foreign land. Returning from exile and encountering the mixed-race Samaritans, it was difficult for them to accept them as pure Jews and much bitterness followed.
Other Details
- The road from Jerusalem to Jericho runs through rocky country and desert, well-suited to bandits. Only by chance does anyone pass by (v.31).
- The use of wine and oil as healing agents was common.
- Payment to the innkeeper would have been sufficient for several days.
World in front of the text
Compassion
The Hebrew word for compassion ‘rahamin’ expresses the empathetic attachment of one human being to another. It is a capacity to be attracted and moved by the fragility, weakness, and suffering of another. It is the ability to be vulnerable enough to undergo risk and loss for the sake and good of the other. The human strength required to be ‘vulnerable enough’ to risk for others stems from an acceptance that vulnerability, weakness and suffering are permanent factors of human existence not something to be ignored or denied. It is through this acceptance of the vulnerable nature of human existence that people can become stronger and more constant in their responses to their own and others needs.
Compassion involves empathetic movement and action in order to be of assistance to the other, it entails a responsible movement of participation in the experience of the other. When this occurs the relationship status between the one who is suffering and the one offering compassion is changed. Those involved in the act of giving and receiving compassion experience a unified spirit of solidarity and communion. In many situations this change in relationship status is experienced as a form of love.
Compassion requires sensitivity to what is weak and or wounded, as well as the vulnerability to be affected by the other. It also demands action to alleviate pain and suffering. Outward signs of Christian compassion are sometimes named acts of mercy and kindness. Compassion must not be confused with sentimentality or pious romanticisation of human suffering. It is it a practical response to suffering and to the consequences of social evil, sin and suffering.
Jesus exemplifies God’s compassion in his preaching providing believers with paradigms of compassion illustrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan when compassion is shown for the wounded traveller and in the Lost Son when the father was so moved with compassion that he ran to meet his son.
Foundational to the Christian acts of compassion are the beliefs in the nature of God as love and God’s presence in all of creation, the witness of Jesus’ compassion for all, and the belief in the power of the Holy Spirit to heal and restore through acts of love, mercy and kindness. From a contemporary Christian perspective the fullness of compassion is known in and through Jesus, who discloses the compassion of God. Today Christians face human suffering and pain in everyday and extraordinary circumstances. How to be a “Good Samaritan” and show compassion in both circumstances can be challenging. It is to be remembered that compassion is a response of the human heart that is fully aware of its own pain, suffering and weakness. It does not stand outside the experience of suffering. It chooses not to instruct and blame but rather actively seeks to strengthen, empower and restore through identification with the weak and wounded at that particular time and context.
Self-righteous people and sinners
At the heart of Judaism and Christianity is the seeking of a relationship with God, which if broken can be restored through repentance on the part of the sinner and restoration or redemption on the part of God.
There is the paradox within Judaism and Christianity. Believers strive to obey God's will but in so doing miss the mark in relation to what God expects. For the Jew, in struggling to observe the details of the Law to win God's acceptance, it is easy to lose the spirit of that Law. This means that motivation for keeping the Law becomes its strict, literal observation which is an end in itself and overlooks the belief that the Law is the means by which the Jew can fulfil the spirit of the Law. The prophets tried to communicate a proper understanding of God and the Law in the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible. Those who fail to keep the Law are regarded as sinners who have cut themselves off from God. However, the sinner can turn out to be less hypocritical and more honest and sincere than the successful 'keeper of laws'. Human perception is different from God's perception. God sees the heart. The sinner, in contrast to the self-righteous person can be aware of shortcomings and sorry about them and therefore ready to accept God's forgiveness.
The practice of the Christian faith can be perverted into legalism in exactly the same way as Judaism; the devout Christian can miss the mark by being too rigid in his or her interpretation of God's will. There is a danger, too, for Christians or members of any other faith, that they will presume that because of their religious insight they alone can dispense God's wishes.