The Parable of the Good Samaritan

07-14-2019Weekly ReflectionFather Prince Raja

There are many parables that are unique to the Gospel of Luke. The parable of the lost son (Lk 15:11-32), the parable of Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31), the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Lk 18:10-14) are among those that are unique to the gospel of Luke. The parable of the Good Samaritan, that we hear read in the gospel text of today, is also one of them. To get the real message of Jesus in the unique parables of Luke we need to pay attention to the final twist to the story.

The purpose of this parable is to teach the disciples and the community the meaning of neighbourliness. The setting revolves around a lawyer attempting to test Jesus in a verbal battle regarding his teaching on inheriting eternal life. Jesus counters him with his knowledge of the law regarding salvation and discovers that the man his well versed in his knowledge of scriptures. He tells him that it contains in his love of God and Neighbour. With this he is eligible to have eternal life. Jesus gives him the story, the parable that explains the concept of neighbor in our real life. For the Jews the concept of a neighbor did not go beyond a fellow Jew.

The basic teaching Luke draws from the parable is that any time a person is found in need is sacred time and any place a person is found in need is a sacred place and, regardless of who the person is a Christian must reach out and help. The Samaritan is presented as a model to be followed by every person and therefore the traditional understanding that he is a Good Samaritan.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the passages in the Bible that is quite familiar to each one of us. Priests, teachers and even our parents would use this story to teach us the value of compassion, love and mercy to others.

The Samaritan in the gospel of today has compassion on the wounded man, he reaches out to him; he is ready to change his timetable. He does first aid – pouring wine and oil to disinfect the wounds – and then lifts the wounded man "to his own mount." Basically, he uses what he has. That is it! His expertise ends there, not his compassion. So he does a referral! Having taken the wounded man to the inn, the Good Samaritan is willing to do a follow up on this stranger: he promises to visit him "on his way back" and even pay the extra expenses that might be due to the inn-keeper. The Golden Rule, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27) which we hear in today's gospel is not just a Christian thing. Every conceivable religion and culture in the world has the Golden Rule in one form or another.

BACK TO LIST