25 An expert in the Law of Moses stood up and asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to have eternal life?”
26 Jesus answered, “What is written in the Scriptures? How do you understand them?”
27 The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’”
28 Jesus said, “You have given the right answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life.”
29 But the man wanted to show that he knew what he was talking about. So he asked Jesus, “Who are my neighbors?”
30 Jesus replied:
As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead.
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Later a temple helper came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side.
33 A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him 34 and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, “Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.”
36 Then Jesus asked, “Which one of these three people was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by robbers?”
37 The teacher answered, “The one who showed pity.”
Jesus said, “Go and do the same!”
Read Luke 10:25-37 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Have you ever been reading a passage and come to a place where you wish it included a little more detail? This passage is one such place for me because as I read it, I noticed an interesting detail that Jesus “forgot” to include. In verse 30 we read the beginning of Jesus’ Good Samaritan story: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho . . .”
The inquisitive part of me asks the question – especially when we continue into this story – with role and race being the distinguishing mark of who helped and who did not, why might Jesus have left out the details regarding the man who was hurt? After all, without a hurt man, there would be no story.
Why would Jesus leave out a question that probably was in the mind of His listeners? Was the man a Jew, a Samaritan (like the one who helped him), a priest, a Roman, a soldier, a Greek, or another “foreigner”? We don’t know for sure, but we could logically assume that those in the audience were primarily Jews, and that they would assume Jesus was referencing “someone like them” (i.e. a Jewish man).
This is a clear assumption, since the text makes no indication of this, but if so, it would lead the Samaritan’s actions to be all that more powerful, because in that culture, Jews and Samaritans hated each other. A Samaritan helping a Jew in need was the furthest stretch of the audience’s imagination, but it illustrates Jesus’ key point: A neighbor is defined as someone who helps another person without regard to who they are, where they are from, or how they are in trouble.
In Jesus’ eyes (and we could also say “God’s eyes”), being a neighbor is an action, not a geographic “role” based on where you happen to live.
Good Samaritans help those who are in need without looking at details such as race, gender, status, or religion. The Good Samaritan was a model for how we are to treat each other, as members of humanity – helping where there is a need.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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