The writings of Luke the physician starting with his version of the gospel - Luke 10:25-37 comments: the good Samaritan

Luke 10:25 ¶  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28  And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29  But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30  And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31  And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34  And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35  And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host,

and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36  Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37  And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

The Old Testament’s most important and foundational commandments are laid out here in this conversation between a lawyer and Jesus inserted in the text for us right after the seventy return. First, as Jesus said elsewhere;

Matthew 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

This is certainly one of those commandments that goes beyond dispensational considerations. It is primary for both Judaism then and Christianity afterwards. To love God is fundamental to our faith. These two commands are more general than the Christian calling to not only love God but to love their brothers and sisters in Christ. In the following Christians are called to love each other.

1John 4:17 ¶  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19  We love him, because he first loved us. 20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

But, these two universal commands extend to loving others, even hated groups, people we regard as inferior and spiritually deficient, the lost, or even other people who we just believe have it all wrong.

Once we acknowledge faith in Christ and believe in the precepts and statements laid down in God’s word this is the first and perhaps the most difficult of the things we are drawn toward. Loving God in the face of death, sickness, grief, and discouragement is a difficult thing. Loving our neighbor, considering how despicable even the best of people can be, is a huge challenge. The lawyer doesn’t question this difficulty, though. He provides Jesus with an opportunity to explain what God means by neighbor and it is not just the person over the fence next door. The lawyer, in trying to justify himself, is about to receive an indictment for at least one of his most basic prejudices.

Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel after Israel and Judah split during the reign of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, as recorded in 1Kings, chapter 12. Then, see 1Kings 16:29. The Assyrians conquered Israel and removed the Jews from there to other territories, replacing them with others as was their custom in conquest. Jewish priests were brought in to teach them the religion of the Jews and a distinctly different sort of Judaism grew up with distinct customs and norms that underscored the divisions between the Jews and the Samaritans.

2Kings 17:6  In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes…24  And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof…26  Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land…28  Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

The Samaritan religion is called Samaritanism and is based on the Samaritan Torah. They believed they most closely followed the true religion of the Jews that existed before the Babylonian captivity. They worshipped at the ruins of their temple in Mount Gerizim. The mount is mentioned in Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges. The temple was destroyed by the Jews in around 100BC. The Jews did not regard the Samaritans very favorably.

In fact, the Samaritans were hated. They worshipped in a different place. They had a different history than the Jews and the Jews regarded them as inferiors, spiritually, politically, and every other way. They were not just somebody else but they were somebody else the Jews expected nothing good out of and looked down their noses at. But Jesus points out that this victim of robbery has no mercy shown to him by a pious priest and then a Levite. It is the proverbial, “Good Samaritan,” who renders aid. This story taught the lawyer that one’s neighbors included anyone you chanced upon and even someone whose ethnicity or religion you hated might be someone that God would want you to aid in their time of distress.

Picture for yourself from an American perspective the Samaritan in the story being a black person from the inner city or a ragged mountain redneck from the Ozarks. Maybe picture a person of another political party you despise or a Yankee or a Southerner or anyone that you hold in contempt as a people. Maybe you need to think of a Catholic or a Methodist or charismatic. But, you can imagine what Christ is doing here in breaking down barriers.