The Parable of the
Good Samaritan is a parable of living the Law of the Lord. That is how the
parable begins. That is what the scholar of the Law asked Jesus to comment on. First
he asked him what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Great idea, but when our
Lord asked him what the Law said, the scholar quoted Deuteronomy and Leviticus,
Love the Lord with your whole heart, and
being, and strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself… Well, the
parable comes after the scholar asked who was a neighbor[1].
We all know the
parable very well, perhaps too well. We all know it so well that we forget that
it is pointed towards us. The parable is
about living the Way of Jesus, the Law of Love. The Samaritan’s were seen
by the Jews as outside of the Law. They had intermarried with pagans. Their
practice of the Jewish faith was not as pure as the Jews. They didn’t travel to
Jerusalem for the festivals, believing that they could worship God in other
places. To the Jews, Samaritans were sinners because they were not as fervent
in their faith as the Jews were.
The Good
Samaritan knew when God called him into action. He knew that he could not be a
follower of the Lord and walk by that man who needed his help. Sure the Levite
and the Temple priest should have gone into action. Supposedly, they were the
strong followers of God. But that wasn’t an argument for the Samaritan to
ignore the man on the side of the road. He did what the Law of God demanded
that he do.
The Parable of
the Good Samaritan is real in our lives. It
is present whenever we are confronted with demands on our time and resources to
care for someone who needs us. It is particularly present whenever we are
tempted to hide behind worship as a justification for refusing to answer the
call to charity. “I am really busy at Church,” we say, “God certainly doesn’t
expect more of me.” But He does.
In the book of
the prophet Jeremiah we hear the prophesy, my
law will be written upon their hearts[2].
We know when we are being called to fulfill the Law of the Lord. We know that
Jesus identifies with those who are hurting. There is no excuse, no
justification, for our walking by those who need our help, who need His Love.
The Parable of
the Good Samaritan is far more than a pleasant biblical story told by Jesus
Himself. The parable is an answer to the question: What must I do to inherit eternal life? My brother, my sister, we
have only to look into our hearts, we had to pay attention to the voice of our
conscience; we know what we must do ■
