July 13, 2025.         Luke 10:25-37

25 An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
  29 But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” 

May mercy motivate you and grace enable you to see and respond.

This is a story that is well known and often held up as a model for compassionate behavior. The Good Samaritan is understood by many, even if they have no idea who the Samaritans were or how really ‘good’ his actions were. We seem to have a good handle on the lesson Jesus was teaching. The Connection’s publication describes a contemporary occurrence that we have surely experienced, you perhaps have had the role of more than one of the individuals in this event.

You and your family push your way into the restaurant on a Saturday night. After a long wait, you finally get a table. The place is packed — and loud. After another long wait, your waitress hurries over to your table with menus. Deena, her name tag reads. Deena can’t be more than 16 or 17, the same age as your daughter. After a quick hello and welcome, she disappears to serve another table. Deena returns several minutes later to take your order, noting the four different ways your party wants their burgers. You can tell she’s working hard to keep it all together. 

 While you wait, Deena is summoned by the patron at a nearby table. You can see and hear the encounter: He all but throws his underdone steak, his soggy French fries, and warm beer at Deena. He berates her for the slow service and dismal food. She apologizes profusely and collects their plates. When she returns a few minutes later with new servings, he takes a bite, grunts and glares at her. At another table, she tries to mollify screaming children; another party changes its order three times; she collides into the kid bussing tables and a tray of dirty dishes crashes to the floor.

 Deena finally returns to your table with your food. She’s forgotten your son’s onion rings and one of the soft drinks. She runs off and is back in a minute with the rest of your order. She is very apologetic. You smile and say everything’s great. You say you realize it’s a busy night. You tell her how impressed you are that she and the wait staff can serve so many hungry patrons so quickly and efficiently.  She smiles a real smile for the first time all evening. “Thanks,” she says. “We try.”

 You leave a larger tip than usual. And on the way out the door, you make a point of saying to the manager: “Deena is terrific. We hope she’s our waitress the next time we’re here.”

Each day, without realizing it, we encounter people who are in a “ditch” of discouragement and despair. They have been beaten and bruised by the abuse and anger of others and left dead tired in frustrating hopelessness. We don’t have to look very far to find such “victims”. We are directed to be Good Samaritans by extend-ing to them compassion, understanding and a helping hand. (Connections July 2025)

I caution you to realize however, that the full lesson of Jesus’ story is not encapsulated by this example, no matter how important this directive is. Recall that Jesus has been confronted by this man, who is an expert in the law. His goal is to test Jesus, to render his own judgment about Jesus through his response. Instead of supplying a direct answer to the man’s question, Jesus turns things back to the lawyer to give his own thoughts about this question. He knows very well what his Scriptures had to say about inheriting eternal life, so his answer was immediately on his lips: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” That was a little too easy, so he tries again, perhaps not only to justify himself and prove his grasp and understanding of God’s expectations but also to try once more to trap Jesus. So ,he asks: “Who is my neighbor?”

Then Jesus relates this account of the man who is beaten and robbed and left to die on the side of the road. Those who were expected to offer assistance, the good religious leaders, the Priest and Levite (Levites were like the best worship assistants & Council members), pass by quickly without even stopping or calling 911 on their cell phone. We are not told their reasoning, their justifications for ignoring their fellow traveler but you can deduce several easy enough. Their schedules were full, had to hurry along. It would have been dangerous for them to loiter; the robbers could return and attack them. Blood and death would make it necessary for them to add some ritual cleansing before they could do their assigned tasks. This victim must have done something bad for God to have allowed him to be punished in this way – he must have deserved his fate.  On and on go the excuses. But the man does receive help and real compassion from the least likely person.

The Samaritans were despised by the Jews, it was a mutual distrust and hatred between them. Yet that is the very one who offers aid, concern, and assistance above and beyond first aid, all the way to securing his safety for the night and covering all the costs. This was a really ‘Good Samaritan.’

Then we come to the crux of Jesus’ story. Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” Jesus asks.  Jesus has neatly turned the original question around again, the man answers that the one who acted as a neighbor was the one who showed mercy! That lawyer had wanted to learn where the boundaries were for defining exactly who qualified as being labeled a neighbor. But Jesus created his example in such a way as to void that question and instead led him and us to see that the real concern is that we, each of us, is to be the neighbor. Who is on the receiving end of that neighborly assistance and concern is no longer relevant.

As Franz Leenhardt has argued: “One cannot define one’s neighbor, one can only be a neighbor.” * Jesus is making it clear that there are no limits on who is our neighbor, there are no disqualifications, no loop hole within the definition. It only matters who you are, for you are the neighbor. And your neighborliness is demonstrated by the mercy, generosity, kindness, and love that you bring to the situation.

Remember the lawyer was seeking boundaries that would limit who would has to be served. He knew what God wants – to love your neighbor as yourself. But Jesus, with this example, chose an enemy to be a neighbor as the way to establish his point. There can be no boundaries laid down to separate some as beyond the pale, to be outside of consideration. There is no line between student and teacher, between the amateur and the expert, there is no acceptable and unacceptable, no divide between rich and poor, no boundaries based on national heritage or race or gender or anything. The question of ‘Who is my neighbor?’ becomes irrelevant because the answer is anyone, everyone!  The only question left to answer is are you being a neighbor? As the lawyer discovered the neighbor is the one who shows mercy. 

So this fun story becomes a heavy expectation upon us. Where is the gospel message for us? Deuteronomy (30:11,14) points us the way. “Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.”

Jesus comes to us in the Word, for He is the Word. In Him we have been shown mercy, the ultimate of care and compassion, in the new life He has gained for us. In the Spirit provided to us, we have that very mercy to utilize as we respond to others. We do not face the role of neighbor alone. Hand in hand with our Lord we can erase those boundaries and show the compassion we ourselves have been given.

*Franz Leenhardt, as quoted in Lyne R. Snodgrass, Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), 357.