The Good Samaritan: Go and do likewise

 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  He said to him, "What is written in the law?  What is your reading of it?"  So he answered and said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'"  And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  Then Jesus answered and said:  "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a certain priest came down that road.  And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.  And when he saw him, he had compassion.  So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'  So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among thieves?"  And he said, "He who showed mercy to him."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

- Luke 10:25-37

Yesterday we read that the seventy apostles Jesus had sent out returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  He said to him, "What is written in the law?  What is your reading of it?"  So he answered and said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'"  And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."  The lawyer (an expert in the Mosaic Law) quotes from two statutes:  Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. 

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  Then Jesus answered and said:  "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead."  The lawyer tests Jesus with an essential question, And who is my neighbor?  Jesus clearly deems the question important to answer, as He gives this parable in response.  Jerusalem is the place of peace, says my study bible.  It is symbolic of communion with God.  But Jericho is a city in complete contrast; it was renowned as a place of sin (see 19:1).  To fall among thieves is seen as an image of the natural consequence of journeying away from God toward a life of sin (see John 10:10).

"Now by chance a certain priest came down that road.  And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side."  My study bible quotes Cyril of Alexandria's commentary on this passage:  "The dignity of the priesthood means nothing unless he also excels in deeds."  Titles and positions are meaningless in God's sight, it notes, when good deeds do not accompany them.   The priest and the Levite also represent the Old Testament Law, and its failure to heal the consequences of sin.

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.  And when he saw him, he had compassion."  While the Samaritan may be a despised foreigner in the eyes of the Jews (and therefore those listening to Jesus tell the parable), he's also an image of Christ (John 8:48).  Christ "came down from heaven" (Creed, also John 6:38) to save even those in rebellion against Him.

"So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'"  My study bible tells us that the bandages, oil and wine are sacramental images for several things.  First. there is the garment of baptism, which delivers us from the wounds of sin.  Second,  there is symbolism here for the oil of chrismation, which gives us new life in the Holy Spirit.  Third, the communion of the divine Blood, symbolized by wine in the parable, leads to eternal life.   That the Samaritan sets the man on his own animal indicates Christ bearing our sins in His own body.  The inn where the man who receives care reveals the Church in which Christ's care is received.  He pays the price for that care (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23).  In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ refers several times to good deeds done in secret, which the Father will repay openly.  See in particular Matthew 6:3-4.

"So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among thieves?"  And he said, "He who showed mercy to him."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."  Go and do likewise is a commandment for all of us. 

"Go and do likewise."  Let us consider this command from Jesus.  We are to be like he who showed mercy to him:  the Samaritan to the man who had fallen among thieves.  One thing we may note:  the word for mercy in Greek is eleos.  This is alike to the word for olive oil; that is, like the oil with which the Samaritan bound the wounds of victim of thieves.  Olive oil, in ancient times, formed the basis for all healing balms and even fine perfumes.  So, to truly understand the role of mercy in the Gospels, we must also understand the ties to this word and their associations with the oil of chrismation, and the balm of mercy.  We also note that Jesus' command to go and do likewise speaks to us of personal incentive.  That is, we take the initiative to become neighbors.  One does not have to seek out such circumstances or dream of glorious things we might do and plan.  The good Samaritan comes upon a circumstance in his life which asks him to make a choice.  He sees the choices that others make, the priest and the Levite.  But he takes compassion on the one who is left with his wounds at the hands of the robbers.  In the Orthodox Church, St. Nicholas is honored each Thursday, along with the Apostles.  If we look at the life of St. Nicholas, we may understand a connection with the parable of the Good Samaritan. St. Nicholas is known to us in large part for his charitable works, which were extensions of his great piety and faith in the Lord.   He took pity on those he knew who not only were in need, but who were in danger of being left aside, without community, alone to fend for themselves.  One prominent story in the life of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, tells us of three daughters of a formerly well-to-do man, fallen on hard times.  In that time, a woman without a dowry was unlikely to marry.  They risked a life of slavery or prostitution.  St. Nicholas had inherited wealth from his parents.  One night, the story goes, a bag of gold was tossed through a window of the home of the three young ladies.  Soon the eldest was married.  Later on, the same thing happened again.  The father of the young women was determined to find out their secret benefactor, and began to keep watch during the night.  A third time a bag of gold landed inside the home, and the father surprised St. Nicholas as he fled, identifying his donor.  The father was told by St. Nicholas, "You must thank God alone for providing these gifts in answer to your prayers for deliverance."   That the Church honors St. Nicholas weekly, and in conjunction with the Apostles, tells us that such works of compassion and charity do the greatest service for our Lord, it spreads the kingdom of God into the world as the apostles did.  It is an eloquent way to express one's love for God in the world.  Like the Good Samaritan, and like St. Nicholas, these works don't need to be things we plan on to impress the world or to find some glory for ourselves.  Rather, as we live our lives, we will come upon circumstances that ask us a question -- what can we do to help?  The gift is made all the greater for its lack of worldly glory.  We may find ourselves in a circumstance where we take compassion on those whom others may hate, for one reason and another.  But our blessing is from God and our service is to God, especially when we include those whom all others forget or exclude.  May God bless you with Jesus' command to go and do likewise.  Even in the smallest of ways, whether it is a smile we give or a courtesy or even just a kind word, the compassion our Father sees in secret will be repaid openly, in one way or another.  This, then, becomes a true act of prayer, the true glory of beauty in the sight of Christ.