The story of the Good Samaritan is well-known in our culture, not just among Christians, but by everyone. We have Good Samaritan laws that protect those who help people in distress from being sued if the rescue doesn’t go well. Presidents and other politicians have referred to the story of the Good Samaritan in their speeches to encourage certain policies. Back in 2018, Nancy Pelosi recited the entire story in her eight-hour speech on the floor of Congress to promote “The Dream Act.” (https://www.christianpost.com/news/nancy-pelosi-recites-the-good-samaritan-parable-praises-evangelical-leaders-in-8-hour-speech-216989/) There is a Christian mercy ministry run by Franklin Graham called “Samaritan’s Purse.” Christians have a health insurance replacement called “Samaritan Ministries.” The story of the Good Samaritan is well-known, well-loved, and well-used.
When a story like this becomes such a common cultural fixture, it becomes easy to assume we understand the story. Our American culture has taken the story, for the most part, in a very simplistic way, reading it as if it were one of Aesop’s Fables: a story that promotes a moral. In this case, the moral is “Do good for hurting people.” This, of course, is true as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. There is quite a bit more to the story.
The lawyer (that is, an expert in the Scriptures), whose testing of Jesus provokes the story of the Good Samaritan, is concerned about what he needs to do to inherit eternal life (Lk 10.25). He desires to be justified (Lk 10.29); that is, he wants to know that he will be declared righteous in the way he understands and fulfills the Law that is summarized as, “Love God and love your neighbor.” Jesus said that if he will do this, then he will live (Lk 10.28). So, in an attempt to justify himself, he asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
From this point, most believe that Jesus is answering the question, “Who is my neighbor?” with the story of the Good Samaritan. He does so in a roundabout way, but that is not the primary question Jesus is answering. Jesus is telling the man what it looks like to love God and neighbor, what it means to “do this” so that he can inherit eternal life. This is made clear at the end of the story when Jesus asks, “Which of these three [the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan], do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (Lk 10.36) He has turned the tables on the lawyer … a common practice for Jesus. The focus of the question is not on the neighbor on the side of the road but the neighbor who helped the man on the side of the road. Which one of the three fulfilled the Law and was, therefore, justified?
The answer, of course, was insulting to the Jewish lawyer because Jews hated Samaritans. But he would have known that the scenario in the story was not unprecedented. Jesus reshapes the story of the Jews and Samaritans from 2Chronicles 28 in his parable of the Good Samaritan. The Southern Kingdom of Judah had been attacked by the Northern Kingdom—the Samaritans–with their ally, Syria. They killed thousands upon thousands, giving them a beating. Through the prophet Oded, God warned the Samaritans to send the captives back to their home. In obedience to God, we hear in 2Chronicles 28.15, “Then the men who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, gave them food and drink, and anointed them; and they let all the feeble ones ride on donkeys. So they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.”
Echoes of this story were, no doubt, heard by the lawyer as Jesus told it. Who, then, is the man on the side of the road, beaten, naked, and half-dead? He is the lawyer and all of his Jewish family with him. They are suffering the effects of sin. What do they need? They need a man that they count as their enemy but who is a true Law-keeper to show them mercy so that they can be healed. Only after they have received mercy will they be able to love and show mercy that will fulfill the Law’s demands.
This lawyer and all of his Jewish family need Jesus, the Good Samaritan, the one whom they count as an enemy because he eats with tax collectors and sinners (Lk 5.27-32; 15.1-2), the one whom they will eventually condemn and crucify. He is the one whom God has justified in baptism, declaring Jesus to be his son in whom he is well-pleased (Lk 3.22), and the one whom he will justify in his resurrection (Rom 1.4; 4.25; 1Tm 3.16). Jesus is the true neighbor who shows compassion, fulfilling God’s Law perfectly. In order to be justified and inherit eternal life, the Jews must find mercy from the Justified One.
The story of the Good Samaritan runs much deeper than “be kind to hurting people.” The story of the Good Samaritan is about our need for the Neighbor who will have mercy upon us. Only after we are justified through his mercy will we be able to know what mercy is, who our neighbors are, and how to demonstrate mercy.
