POSSIBILITIES IN THE GOOD SAMARITAN PARABLE

6/30/20

Luke 10:25-37
Here is some background for the sermon this last Sunday. Almost nothing is certain but we can gleam some possibilities from the text and from what we know about the culture of the time. Remember the original question from the Rabbi to Jesus was, “What must I do to inherit eternal life”? Only secondarily does he ask, “Who is my neighbor.”
First, everyone was identified by their clothes: Age, race, clan, tribe, gender, occupation, city or area, social ranking, power status and economic status. To see someone’s clothes was to tell almost everything about the person because clothes were worn accordingly.
Second, they lived in “high context societies” where many things in society were “givens” and did not have to be said. Everyone just understood what was happening without have to say everything. Therefore, the writers of texts expect you to already know the “givens’ of their world and the texts were much more limited in words. Our problem is that we do not know the “givens” of their world in detail and have to guess a lot or fill in the blanks between the words that the speaker and hearers already knew and didn’t have to say. Many times we get it wrong!
Third, the victim was likely a Jewish man because Jesus was talking to a Jewish Rabbi in front of a Jewish audience. Jesus simple said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho”. The rest did not have to be said because everyone knew the context. What we don’t know is the status of the man or why he went down to Jericho alone.
Fourth, “he fell among robbers” may not be the best translation because the word used for robbers is “lestes” in Greek and its meaning is disputed, even today. Many think it means terrorist, freedom fighter, guerilla fighter, zealot even more than thieve or robber. While lestes robbed, they did so with a political motive. We know there were bands of “zealots”, as the Bible calls them, who were doing everything possible to get a war started with Rome, which they did about 30 years after Jesus. The first hearers knew who he was talking about. Two of His disciples were Zealots.
Fifth, they stripped him of his clothes, the most shameful thing possible for a Jew, and was certainly meant to shame him. Whether they “stole” his clothes, or not, we are not told. However, when the Samaritan found him there is no mention of clothes so it is possible his clothes were left nearby. They beat him badly (half dead) and left him beside the road. The text never says they “robbed” him of anything. It seems that their purpose was to send a message to someone, which would make sense if they were terrorists.
Sixth, if, as proposed, the terrorist were trying to send a message to Rome, why would they not attack a Roman? Probably no Roman would ever go alone up or down the Jericho road. But that does leave the possibility that the victim going down the road was a collaborator with Rome, or someone with strong ties with Rome. Maybe a tax collector? Tax collectors were Jews who had turned on the Jewish people and collected taxes for Rome, and for a huge profit. The Sanhedrin (Jewish ruling body) had passed that no tax collector could go to heaven, as if they had the power to do so. Tax collectors were the prime examples of sinners in the New Testament and considered to be the lowest of the low and the most hated of all Jewish people. Luke also tells us about the chief tax collector who lived in Jericho—Zacchaeus. So maybe a lesser tax collector was going to give account to his boss?
Seventh, the Jewish lestes could tell if he was a tax collector by his dress, even if they did not know him personally, but is likely they did know him. What better way to send a message to Rome and to other turncoats and traitors than to humiliate him by stripping him and beating him up but not killing him so he could tell others about them and give them a warning of what was coming.
Eighth, why did the lestes “attack” only the Jewish man? The Priest and Levite were alone and made easy targets. The Samaritan was also alone and, as we will see, had money and goods. But the lestes did not attach them but only the lonely Jewish guy. Why not some of the others who traveled the road regularly, we know from the necessity of the Inn?
Ninth, a Priest and Levite were traveling the road, each by himself but the Priest, at least, going the same way towards Jericho. They, each, see the man and pass on by. Some say they could not touch a dead man because it would make them unclean until sundown and they could not do Temple work unclean. Nonsense! They were going away from the Temple and the man was clearly not dead, as the text says, he was “half-dead”. In their Priestly garments of white and blue they considered themselves “above” helping the victim. Why, we are not told. Maybe they knew he was a tax collector and/or knew what the lestes did to tax collectors and believed he deserved it..
Tenth, “But a Samaritan came where the man was and had compassion on him”. We know him as the “Good Samaritan” but to say that in their day would be like saying a “Good Nazi” or a “Good Communist” today. It was a crime even to call someone a Samaritan. They were hated by the Jews so much that we must ask why he was going down a Jewish road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Both Jerusalem and Jericho were closer to Samaria directly so to go down this road doesn’t make sense unless maybe he is a merchant who frequents the route selling his goods. His white clothes with red markings on it gave him away as a Samaritan.
Eleven, “when he saw the bleeding man had compassion on him”. Jer. 6: 23 says the lack of compassion marks a people as “cruel”. The Chaldeans are without compassion in that they slay the young and helpless (II Chron. 36: 17). Possession of compassion is proof that men are among the people of God. Lack of compassion proves you do not belong to the people of God. The Hebrew concept of compassion: Sorrow and pity for one in distress, creating a desire to relieve, a feeling ascribed God, to pity or to show mercy, to forgive, to forbear, to spare, to be gracious and kind. God is known as the “Compassionate”. He is invoked as the Father of Compassion, so much so that the very name of God, YHWH, became synonymous with Compassion. To have compassion meant you were saved; not to have compassion meant you were not. The Priest and the Levite were not saved but the Samaritan was! Remember that anyone can have compassion on friends and kin but only the people of God have compassion on enemies.
Twelve, since the Samaritan was coming on his regular route from Jerusalem it is possible he knew the victim, even though he was stripped and shamed. Samaria was also under Roman rule and was taxed just like the Jews and possibly by the same people. In any case, the Samaritan immediately had compassion on him, even if he was an enemy, and he was anyway because he was a Jew.
Thirteen, the Samaritan had oil and wine with him (possibly a merchant of oil and wine) and he applies them on the spot. He then puts him on his pack animal, furthering the possibility that he was a merchant with a donkey carrying his goods to sell. Most people walked and used donkeys as pack animals. He takes him to an inn on the Jericho Road (yes, there was really an inn there but not in Bethlehem), and spent the night nursing him and pays the innkeeper 2 small Roman silver coins (not to be confused with the smaller copper coin worth 1/25 of the silver one) worth 25 days wages each. He told the innkeeper, “Take care of him and whatever more you spend I will repay you when I return.” The Samaritan showed excessive grace on the victim.
Fourteen, the Samaritan seems to have already received compassion from God, so he was capable of showing compassion as his first response. The Priest did not have it, the Levite did not have and the Rabbi asking the question of Jesus did not have it. Only the Samaritan had it. Maybe the victim had a change of heart from receiving the compassion from the Samaritan? Ex. 34:6, “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness”
The Samaritan helped the man because he was saved not to get saved. He had received compassion from God and so his first response for the victim was to show compassion. He was full of compassion because the Spirit of Compassion lived inside. So that his first reaction to anyone in need, Jew, tax collector, enemy or friend was compassion. Compassion sums up all the good theological words like, mercy, grace, salvation, kindness, etc. Compassion as a first response comes only from God living inside a person.
The story does not mean that if you go out and give someone a handout you will go to heaven. We must ask what the Gospel in the text is. It is not about ethics or the Social Gospel, but it is an example of how saved people behave. The “go and do likewise” meant to go and ask God to have compassion (mercy and grace) on you so that your heart can be changed from a selfish sinner to a Christian and become a part of the Kingdom of God.
Jim