INTRODUCTION
The Good Samaritan is a very familiar story in our culture. We have hospitals named after the parable, shelters, churches, and even legislation called the ‘good Samaritan laws.” In fact it is so familiar it has become a problem. We think we know what Jesus’ parable is all about. Most of us think it is an illustration of common decency, helping somebody who is in need. But that is not what parables are really for. Instead of supporting the common wisdom and morality of the culture, parables are meant to challenge our common sense about good and bad, right and wrong. When Jesus told the story he wasn’t confirming the normative picture of the world, he was trying to get his listeners to see the world in an entirely different way. But instead of confronting us head-on which will cause us to see what is coming and build resistance, a parable moves to the sideways, it finds the unguarded door, and enters into our life with a surprise. That is anyway what they are suppose to do. But what happens when you’ve heard a parable before Over and over again, time after time, sermon after sermon. You know exactly what happens, don’t you? it loses it’s affect. It becomes old hat. So how do we make it new again, something we can hear again for the first time, especially with something that is now as common place as the Good Samaritan? We start by telling a parable that no one has heard before that we might experience the true power of a story. One of the best books for understanding the power of parables is the book, “Jacob the Baker” written by Noah ben Shea. In this book a baker named Jacob is discovered by his little town to be a man of wisdom and insight. So the towns people begin coming to him seeking wisdom and advise on how to live their lives. What they get are parables. At the end of the school day the children would come and sit on the flour sacks. Jacob would sit across from the children and they would talk. As Jacob told his stories, he would from time to time shut his eyes. It was as if he was remembering what to say, not by searching through is mind, but by remembering what he saw. One day a little girl asked, “What do you see when you shut your eyes?” “Well,” Jacob said, “Once upon a time there was a man who had a vision and began pursuing it. Two others saw that the first man had a vision and began following him. In time, the children of those who had followed him asked their parents to describe what they saw. But what their parents described appeared to be the coattails of the man in front of them. When the children heard this, they turned away from their parent’s vision, saying it was not worthy of pursuit.” Jacob leaned toward the little girl who had asked the question. “So, what do we discover from this story?” The children were quiet. “I’ll tell you,” said Jacob. “We discover children who deny what they have never experienced. We discover parents who believe in what they have never experienced. And, from this, we discover the question is not, ‘What do I see when I shut my eyes,’ but ‘What do you see when you open yours?’” In the same way a lawyer, an expert in the law of Moses, came to ask a question of Jesus. Luke tells us that this man spoke up in order to "test Jesus." but that does not necessarily mean he was out to get Jesus, rather he was using a common teaching technique of the day. It would be like a professor today going to hear a college give a lecture and then having the presentation conclude with questions from the audience. ‘Rabbi, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” A good question, a very good question. And Jesus was a very good teacher. In true rabbinical fashion Jesus answers his question with a question. “What does the law say. How do you understand it?” The lawyer wanted Jesus to give him the key, but Jesus wanted him to discover it himself. Immediately the man replied . "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." He knew the answer, straight out of the Leviticus. Jesus couldn’t have agreed with him more, and he told him so, “You are right, do this and you will live.” But that did not satisfy the lawyer so he asks Jesus a follow up question. “But who is my neighbor?”
Luke says he asked it to justify himself . Now whether he wanted to avoid looking like he had asked a stupid question in the first place, or was looking for a loophole to limit his responsibility, or was really concerned that he fulfill God’s word, we don’t know. Whatever the reason, what we know is that Jesus willing engaged this man in a genuine conversation. But the last thing that will help this man is a debate about the fine points of the law. So Jesus tells a story that will engage the man’s heart, in the hope that it will open the eyes of his soul. “There once was a man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” Standing in the lawyers shoes we immediately know this character is a Jew. He was coming from Jerusalem, the center of Israel. You also know that he is traveling down a dangerous road, like certain mountain passes in the old west where robbers waited for the stage coach. Or, like certain streets in the modern city that you just don’t go down, not alone, and not at night. But this man did. You’re not sure you want to identify with this guy, after all he doesn’t seem so smart. What he doing going through that area alone, why would he take such a risk. It’s no surprise to you that he was robbed, beaten, and left in a ditch to die. Now along comes a priest. This is a good man, someone I certainly can identify with. He is a leader of the community. He is an authority of all the laws and traditions of Israel. If anyone would know what one should do, it would be him. But he sees the guy moaning in a ditch, crosses to the other side of the road and walks by. OK maybe I don’t want to identify too closely with this priest. He may have had good reasons for avoiding this man, (don’t we all). but it’s not some thing I’d hold up as an example to follow. Next comes a Levite, a member of the most religious family in Israel. This man had a reputation for righteousness, (a lot like us). If anyone would to do what is morally right in this situation, it would be a Levite. But again, Jesus said he passed by the man in the ditch. So much for reputation. Now your getting a little nervous. Priests and Levites are the moral examples for everyone else to follow. If this story is supposed to tell you about the decent thing to do, then these two should have stopped and helped. They knew the law of God, “love your neighbor as yourself.” And what’s more neighbor had already been defined by the traditions. Your neighbor was a fellow countryman. Your neighbor was a fellow Jew. The man in the ditch is a Jew. The priest and the Levite are Jews. So the you would expect them to stop and help their neighbor. But they don’t stop. Jesus isn’t taking us where we want to go here. This story is leaving us wondering. What’s Jesus up to? Here it comes. “But a Samaritan came near him.” Now here you have some expectations too. The Samaritan is going to finish off this poor guy lying in the ditch. That’s the kind of people Samaritans are, as far as a Jew was concerned. Samaritans were the enemy. Everyone knows, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” Just ask around, Samaritans are immoral, unprincipled, opportunistic, greedy and violent. Never trust a Samaritan. If you had been robbed and wounded, lying by the side of the road, and along comes a Samaritan, you better start saying your prayers. A Samaritan is not someone you are about to identify with, no matter what. I guess you’re left assuming yourself to be the man in the ditch. Hey, haven’t we all been there some time. Hurting, wounded, helpless and afraid. I really feel for that poor guy now. I’m willing to see the world from his angle because I have been there, even if it is miserable. And now Jesus has you where he wants you. When the Samaritan saw him, he was moved with pity, and went o him and dressed his wounds, using oil and wine as antiseptic and ointment. Then he put the wounded man on his own animal and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he came back and paid the innkeeper two days wages and said, `I’ll come back here the next time I’m in town just to repay any more expenses you have for taking care of this man.’” There it is. Jesus is not going to answer your question, at least not the way that you want. He going to show it to you. And he drives it home with a question you must now answer. “Who of the three proved to be a neighbor to the man in the ditch?” The lawyer gives him the only answer possible, “The one who showed him mercy.” And the only conclusion Jesus needs say is “Go and do the same.” So, what does it mean to you now to be a neighbor to others. What does it mean to love God with your whole being, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Is it more than doing good to those who are less fortunate. Is it something different than fulfilling the expectations of religious principles and moral expectations? How do you know when someone, a stranger, an outcast, someone on the fringe of society, the one who is unacceptable in good company, has become your neighbor. An elderly rabbi once asked his students how one could recognize when the night ends and the day begins. One student raised his hand, and said, “It is when, from a great distance, you can tell a dog from a sheep.” The rabbi said, “No, that is not it.” Another student raised his hand, and said, “It is when from a great distance you can tell a date palm from a fig tree.” He said, “No. It is when you look into the face of another human being and see there your brother and your sister. Until then the night is with us.”