Luke 10:24-37 is popularly known as "The Parable of the Good Samaritan". The main focus of the story however is a question meant to justify the foiled attempt of a teacher of the Law to trap Jesus: "Who is my neighbor?" The parable that Jesus narrates turns the question into a moral challenge: "The neighbor is not the one who comes to me; I am the neighbor whenever I show compassion to anyone who needs it." The whole passage however says more than this. Since the question about the neighbor is connected to the Law and ultimately to the question of eternal life.
The passge can be outlined thus:
| 25 | The question of the Teacher of the Law: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" |
| 26-28 | The answer from Scriptures |
| 29 | The follow up question: "Who is my neighbor?" |
| 30-35 | Jesus' answer: the Good Samaritan |
| 36-37 | The Conclusion |
The key to Jesus' answer to the main question "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" is the parable of the Good Samaritan". It must be noted that the same question will be presented to him again by another man in Lk. 18:18-20 and will be answered in a different way. In this Lucan section, the two-fold commandment of love for God and neighbor is formulated, not by Jesus himself but by his interlocutor in response to his question. It must be remembered that Paul summarizes the whole law to just one: "love your neighbor as yourself" (Gal. 5:14, cf. ) It is a statement deriving from Lev. 19:18 the immediate context of which is a series of commands pertaining to justice, truth, the weak and "the other Israelite" in general:
Do not steal or cheat or lie. Do not make a promise in my name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on my name. I am the LORD your God. Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night. Do not curse the deaf or put something in front of the blind so as to make them stumble over it. Obey me; I am the LORD your God.
Be honest and just when you make decisions in legal cases; do not show favoritism to the poor or fear the rich.
Do not spread lies about anyone, and when someone is on trial for his life, speak out if your testimony can help him. I am the LORD. Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them. Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the LORD. (Lev. 19:11-18)
The statement comes at the climax of a series of commands pertaining to a fellow Israelite.
Jesus' interlocutor knew the answer but was trying to turn a flubbed attempt at trapping Jesus into a successful one. The word "justify" here should be understood as "make oneself look good." His attempt at trapping Jesus was foiled when he was forced to answer his own question. "Who is my neighbor?" could also have been a question in the Lucan community to those who no longer understand the meaning of the command and to whom it was already sounding like a slogan.
The story is used by Jesus to lead his interlocutor into an unexpected conclusion. "Love your neighbor as yourself" actually means "Do unto others what you want others do unto you." The parable itself can be outlined as follows:
| 30 | Situation: a man is waylaid along the road leading from Jerusalem to Jericho and looked like dead |
| 31-32 | A priest and a Levite*, sees the man but because of the law that says no one should touch a corpse, passed the man by |
| 33-35 | A Samaritan -- an enemy of Jews -- comes by and does three things for the man: (a) he brings him to an inn; (b) takes care of him; and (c) gives two days'** wage to the innkeeper for the man's stay with a promise of more upon his return |
| 36 | Conclusion: Who among the three was neighbor to the wounded man? |
The answer to the last question of Jesus was "the one who showed compassion*** (probably because the teacher of the Law cannot make himself pronounce the word "Samaritan"). And to this answer Jesus responds -- not really to the question "Who is my neighbor" -- but to the previous one "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Go and do the same" echoes the first response he made: "Do this and you will live." Ultimately then, eternal life is also about being compassionate to others.
*The priest and the Levite weren't indifferent. They were being careful about their own ritual cleanliness. Regulations about touching dead bodies are found in Lev. 11. If they had any fault, it was that they forgot that God wants mercy and compassion not sacrifices.
** The text says "two denarii." One denarius is equivalent to a days' wage.
*** The "compassion" mentioned here is the same compassion that the father felt for his prodigal son (cf. Luke 15:20)
