"The only good Samaritan is a dead Samaritan." While we don't have that quote in the Bible, it's probably fair to say that was a sentiment widely shared by Jesus' audience.
After all, in the previous chapter, a Samaritan village had refused hospitality to Jesus and His disciples because they were heading to Jerusalem. In response, James and John (those Sons of Thunder) were ready to call down fire from heaven to consume them. A bit of an overreaction, perhaps?
Who were the Samaritans? You have to remember your Old Testament background to fully appreciate who they were and why the Jews despised them so. Between Jerusalem/Judea in the south and Galilee in the north (both predominantly Jewish regions) lay the area of Samaria. For Jews (like Jesus) travelling back and forth between Galilee and Jerusalem, the most direct route was about a three days' journey through Samaria. This region had - at one time - been Jewish. In fact, it had been the northern kingdom of Israel (of ten tribes) in the Old Testament, the one that fell to the Assyria Empire in 722 BC. After that, the "10 lost tribes of Israel" were lost - due to their bloodlines and culture, including their religion, being intermingled with Gentiles.
So the Samaritans were the descendants of the ancient nation of Israel - the one that had been apostate, fell, and lost its heritage. Physically, they were partially Jewish and partially Gentiles. As a result, the Jews regarded them with more disdain that Gentiles. By the way, the Samaritans didn't like the Jews any more than the Jews didn't like the Samaritans.
So it is quite surprising that the hero of Jesus' parable in Luke 10, one of His most famous, is a Samaritan. Jesus' audience would have normally supposed that the priest or the Levite would have done the right thing and acted as a neighbor - but, no, it was a Samaritan. If a Samaritan can be a neighbor, that really opens the door to anyone - and everyone - being our neighbor.
"Who is your neighbor?" A better question might be, "Who's not?"
Here's my question for you in the comment section. If Jesus were to tell this parable today, who do you suppose He would choose to be the stand-in for the Samaritan? Who is a "Samaritan" to the American Church?
This is a REALLY good question!
ReplyDeleteThe one example that comes to mind would be any member of the Westboro Baptist Church. One might expect that if they came across someone in a ditch like that, they would tell them that God's judgment has come down on them and they deserve to be in that position. In this light, we don't expect very much decency out of this group. But if one of them were to show that person compassion, it would catch us all off guard.
I am sure there are other, better examples, This is the one that came to mind for me.
Great suggestion. That would really challenge our preconceived notions and cause us to wonder - would I want them be a better neighbor than me? If they could do that, so can I!
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