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 the thieves?"  And he said, "He who showed mercy on him."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

- Luke 10:25-37

Yesterday' we read that the seventy 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."  Importantly, these are the two commandments named as the "greatest commandments" by Christ when asked (Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-34).

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."  My study bible says that Jerusalem is the place of peace, symbolic of communion with God.  On the other hand, it notes, Jericho was renowned as a place of sin (see 19:1).  To fall among thieves, it adds, speaks to the natural consequence of journeying away from God toward a life of sin (see John 10:10).  So often our indulgence in what we know to be wrong leads us to cheat ourselves.

"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."  Some have commented that these prominent religious figures in the story are following prohibitions on the touching of bodies or blood.  My study bible comments that titles and positions are meaningless in God's sight when good deeds do not accompany them.  It quotes Cyril of Alexandria:  "The dignity of the priesthood means nothing unless he also excels in deeds."  That the priest and the Levite do not help the man also indicates the failure of the Old Testament Law 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."   The Samaritan is a despised foreigner, an outsider, a stranger.  As one with compassion, he is also an image of Christ.  My study bible cites John 8:48, commenting that this figure is like Christ who "came down from heaven" (Creed) 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.'"  There are sacramental images contained here, which my study bible gives in the following explanations.  In the bandages, there is an image of the baptism garment, which gives us remission from the wounds of sin.  The oil of chrismation gives us new life in the Holy Spirit.  Wine symbolizes Christ's divine Blood which leads to eternal life.  That the Samaritan put the wounded man on his own animal suggests Christ bearing our sins in His own body.  The inn is like the Church, often likened to a hospital, in which Christ's care is received.  Christ pays the price of that care (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23). 

"So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"  And he said, "He who showed mercy on him."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."  Here is an absolute crux of Christ's teachings to us:  that it is we who must take the initiative to follow His commands, to go and do likewise. 

The parable of the Good Samaritan appears only in Luke's Gospel.  It is the beautiful illustration of the commandments cited here by the lawyer, upon which Christ has said "hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:40).  But here in the illustration of the parable, Jesus takes the Law and the Prophets further, to mercy.  In the ancient world, the base of all healing balms (and the costly perfumes we read about in the Gospels) was olive oil.  This is no doubt the base for the oil used as healing unguent by the Samaritan in the story.  In Greek, this word is ἔλαιον/elaion.  The word for mercy is ἔλεος/eleos.  In Greek, with the exception of the final letter (which indicates gender or neutral object), these words for "olive oil" and "mercy" sound exactly alike.  In the oil of chrismation, symbolizing the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, we have the perfect symbol for mercy or grace -- and so we have the unmistakable parallel given to us in this parable in Luke.  So what does it mean that Christ calls us to "go and do likewise"?  He is teaching us to take the initiative to follow His commands, to be a neighbor.  It's quite similar to His instructions in the Sermon on the Mount (and in Luke, in the Sermon on the Plain; see this reading).  When Jesus preaches that we should "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you," what is this but a call to initiative?  He gives us dramatic statements to indicate that we must not simply follow the crowd, but rather follow the commandment for loyalty to God first, and the expression of that love extended to others.  In the story of the Good Samaritan, the very notion of "neighbor" becomes something Jesus says is something we are capable of initiating ourselves through our loyalty and love of God.  Like so many of His complaints against the religious leadership, the story also speaks against religious prohibitions that exclude the practice of mercy, such as when He asked certain scribes and Pharisees, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"   Let us note here that, similarly to that incident, Jesus speaks to a lawyer who knows full well the Law, and obviously takes its practice seriously.  If we are going to follow Christ regarding His urging us to the practice of mercy, how will we take an initiative where circumstances or surroundings do not lend themselves to such practice as common?  Where do we begin, and how do we begin?  What is grace, but an extension of a kind of hospitality?  Let us note more meanings hidden in the text here, as even our English word "hospital" is evolved from the Latin word for inn -- hospitale.   Christ seems to be asking us to allow our love for God to draw us out of the crowds, from being mere followers, and to create a kind of leadership among His followers which is based on the initiative of the practice of mercy.  He asks us to allow our love of God to take us beyond what we already know.  How can you extend this in your life?  To what conclusions does it lead you today?  In a world which seems only to ratchet up its desire for hostility, how does an act of mercy stand out among the others?