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The Parable of the Good Samaritan

What if we’re supposed to be uncomfortable? Our society values comfort, convenience, and speed so highly that we’ve dubbed the little buffering circle that occasionally appears between Netflix episodes “the wheel of death”—yeah, not dramatic at all. Have we missed the Kingdom way? Jesus deploys this story to confront us with our misaligned priorities and introduce a different way of living. He invites us to a way of life that is marked by truly loving others. 

An expert in the law (a lawyer) asks Jesus about the greatest command. He knows the right answer: Love God with all you are and love your neighbor as yourself. But he wants to trap Jesus. So he asks, “Okay, who’s my neighbor?” 

In response, Jesus tells a story about a Jewish man traveling from one region to another. Unfortunately, he gets mugged and left for dead on the side of the road. Along comes a priest, their equivalent of a pastor. What will he do? Walk right by. Shortly after that, a Levite, someone who actually had medical knowledge, comes on the scene. Instead of stopping, he literally crosses the street and leaves the man to die. A little later, a Samaritan, someone this Jewish man would have been taught to hate and bully any chance he got, stops. He gets off his donkey, cleans and bandages his wounds, hoists him onto the animal, and guides him the rest of the way into the city. Once there, he pays to have the Jewish man fed and taken care of. When he finally goes his own way, he offers to return and pay the difference for any additional expenses the injured man may require during his recovery. 

Now Jesus asks who was a neighbor to the man who was injured. The lawyer states the obvious: “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus challenges him, and us, to go and live like this. To be unafraid of getting our hands dirty, of crossing cultural lines, and of being generous even when it doesn’t make sense—all to love those the world may teach us to overlook. 

So, we read this story and think we’re supposed to see ourselves as the good Samaritan. And yes, we’re supposed to emulate his enemy-loving, extra-mile-walking kind of love! 

Let’s also remember who Jesus was talking to. He was talking to a Jewish lawyer! A guy who, when he heard this story, would have naturally identified with the man on the ground—the victim, not the hero. Imagine how he would have felt. Thinking about his own people walking by him in his great need. But the crazy thing is, he’d probably understand their response based on his knowledge of the law. Because the man in the story was half-dead. In fact, anyone walking by would have probably thought he was dead! These temple officials were strictly forbidden from coming in contact with a dead body, as it would make them ceremonially unclean. Yet the lawyer would also have felt the extreme tension of this situation, as the silliness of their priestly requirements was called into question by the opportunity to save a life! You can almost hear him mentally shouting, “Forget the rules and come help me!”

What’s the point here? Jesus is, once again, inviting us into the tension of wrestling with a hard truth. The truth that God prioritizes things differently than we do. He would rather us take the risk of really loving someone than show up at the temple looking pristine. Jesus is intentionally stepping on toes here. He prioritizes mercy, humility, and service, not comfort, convenience, and efficiency. He is guiding us, and this lawyer, on a journey to discover what the law was always meant to accomplish—forming us into the kind of people who can love God with all that we are and love others the same way Jesus has loved us.

Prayer: God, help me prioritize showing mercy over religious duty. I want to love people like You love them, even the people the world may teach me to overlook. Thank you for setting the ultimate example of getting Your hands dirty to really love people. Thank You for teaching us what the law was always meant to do—teach us to love You with all we are and love others the same way You love us.