The Samaritan's Love
Luke 10:23-37
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Amen.
A parable can sometimes be a means of getting a man to drop his guard just
enough that he learns who and what he really is. In the Old Testament the
best example of that is the prophet Nathan's story told to King David about
the little ewe lamb that belonged to another man, with its final and
devastating "Thou art the man" directed at David. In the Gospels, perhaps
the finest example of this is Jesus' parable about the Good Samaritan, with
its final and equally devastating "Go and do likewise."
The lawyer in this parable was an expert in the Law of Moses, with all of
its many rules and regulations. To understand the discussion between this
lawyer and Jesus we must remember that, long before this, the Law of Moses
had been summed up in that admonition to love God with heart, soul, mind,
and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. And so, when the lawyer
put his question to Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" he
wanted to cross-examine Jesus as an interpreter of the sacred Law. But Jesus
turned the tables on His questioner, first by showing that the lawyer
already knew the answer to his own question, and then by making him measure
his life by the standard he, himself, set up in this battle of wits.
Jesus did not, in fact, answer that question, but replied by asking a
question of His own: "What is written in the Law? What is your reading of
it?" The lawyer answered, "You will love the Lord with your whole heart, and
your neighbor as yourself." "Quite right," Jesus told him. "Do this and you
are on your way to eternal life. Stop theorizing about love and get down to
doing it." It was then that the lawyer, unable to spring his trap on Jesus,
asked the question that was really foremost in his mind: "And who is my
neighbor?" In other words, where am I to draw the line? To his chagrin,
Jesus declined the debate. And, knowing that it was time to strike home, he
told a story instead, not to answer the man's question, but to show him that
he had asked the wrong question. The right question is not, "Whom may I
regard as neighbor?" It is, "To whom can I be a neighbor?" And the right
answer to that question is, "To anyone whose need can be served by my help."
What about this parable? First we see this lonely traveler, no doubt a Jew,
making his way along what was called in those days the "Path of Blood,"
seventeen miles of dangerous and rocky road between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Suddenly, the robbers swooped down out of the hills, beat up their man,
stripped him of his money and anything of value, and then vanished as
quickly as they came. A bit later, along came two pillars of the Jewish
church, one after the other, a priest and a Levite. They could not help but
see the robber's victim-after all, he was lying there in plain sight-but
they did not lift a finger to help him. Why? We do not know, and cannot for
sure. Human nature being what it is, we do know that good reasons to avoid
involvement always have a way of offering themselves when we are faced with
a difficult or distasteful duty. So, off went the priest and Levite, passing
by on the other side.
Then, soon after, there came the hero of this story, and of all people he
was a Samaritan-a half-breed heretic. One glance at the victim was enough to
move his pity. Dismounting, he applied what help he could on the spot; wine
and oil to disinfect the wounds, and bandages to bind them up. Then he
placed the man on his animal, and he went with him to the nearest inn, to
care for him that night. The next morning he came to the owner of the inn,
gave him some money, and said: "Take care of him, and whatever more you
spend, when I come again, I will repay you." What a truly extravagant love
this was! He did not even know the victim's name. Even so, he was prepared
to do whatever was necessary to nurse this man back to health. The story
over, Jesus asked the final question: "So which of these do you think was
neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" The lawyer gave him the only
answer he could. "He who showed mercy on him." Jesus said, "Go and do as he
did."
No parable Jesus told, except perhaps for the Prodigal Son, has been so
loved and known as this one. But do we sentimentalize the story? Has it
merely become the story of a man who did his good deed? Is the point of the
parable merely the virtue of doing a good work? Is it not, rather, that our
neighbor may end up being the person we would least expect? The lawyer could
not really love his neighbor because he did not know who his neighbor was.
Jesus answer was this: Love for one's neighbor has no boundaries or
restrictions, but only asks for the opportunity to be put to use.
When you think of it this way, it ceases to be just the story of the man who
did his good deed. It is, instead, a story about the nature of true love;
the love of God for us which is revealed in this life through our love for
our neighbor. To ask, "Who is my neighbor?" is still to ask the wrong
question. Love asks, "To whom can I be a neighbor?" To all of us who bear
the name of Christ, he says, "Go and do what the Samaritan did to any and to
all you meet along the path of this life."
But, there is even more about the love of God here, something which is
essential to fully understanding this parable, and will keep this parable
from becoming nothing more than a bit of moralizing. Jesus is, Himself, the
Good Samaritan. He was, and He is still among many, hated like the
Samaritans were hated. Isaiah tells us, "He was despised and rejected of
men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He became, by His cross,
the Good Samaritan for us all. He helps us when all others and all else
fails. He cleanses the wounds of our sins, and binds them up again that we
might be healed, strong and healthy once again. He has healed us eternally
through the life He brings us in His death, that life that will never end.
And since all of this is true, we are under the sacred obligation to do as
He did, as much as we are able. This is just what Jesus was talking about
when He said, "Inasmuch as you did this to one of the least of My brethren,
you did it to Me." He who served us in this way is honored when we serve Him
as He comes to us, hidden in all the poor and hopeless neighbors we meet in
this life. He now serves us with His holy body and blood for the remission
of our sins. He bids us go and do as He has done: to give lavishly and fully
to anyone who is our neighbor. For in loving our neighbor even as we love
ourselves, we love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with
all our mind, and with all our strength. And because He has made His love
for the neighbor into our love, we are the true inheritors of eternal life.
In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
--
Rev. Alan Kornacki, Jr.
Pastor, St. Peter Lutheran Church, Campbell Hill, IL
revalk...@gmail.com
http://pastoralkorn.blogspot.com
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