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 apostles 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."   Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus is asked which is the greatest commandment; and He answers with these two commandments named in this passage by the lawyer who tested Him (see Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-34).  These commandments are found in the Old Testament Scriptures at Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.  Here in Luke's Gospel, Jesus turns the question back to the lawyer.  Possibly it is a form of Socratic dialogue.  We notice first that Jesus compliments the lawyer that he has answered correctly.  

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" This answer is not enough for the lawyer, for he wants to justify himself.  The parable of the Good Samaritan is Jesus' response.  This parable is only found in Luke's Gospel.

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 comments here that Jerusalem is the place of peace (its name means "city of peace").  It is symbolic of communion with God.  But Jericho, on the other hand, was renowned as a place of sin (see Luke 19:1).  To fall among thieves, my study bible says, speaks to the natural consequence of journeying away from God toward a life of sin (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 says that titles and positions are meaningless in God's sight when good deeds do not accompany them.  It quotes St. 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.   But he is an image of Christ (John 8:48), as he had compassion.  My study bible quotes from the Creed regarding the identity of the Samaritan with Christ:  He "came down from heaven" 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 points out that the bandages, oil, and wine are sacramental images.  The bandages resemble the garment of baptism, which delivers us from the wounds of sin.  The oil of chrismation gives us new life in the Holy Spirit.  The communion of the divine Blood leads to eternal life.  That the Samaritan set the man on his own animal reminds us that Christ bore our sins in His own body.  The inn reveals the Church in which Christ's care is received.  Finally the Samaritan, like Christ, pays the price for 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."  Jesus once again turns the question back to the lawyer, who again answers correctly.  And Christ's own command for all of us is, "Go and do likewise."  To be a neighbor is to live the commandment, to do likewise, to show mercy.

It's interesting to take a close look at the commandments quoted by the lawyer, and approved of by Christ.  The first is straightforward:  "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind."  But the second has an additional nuance.  Here is the New King James Version of Leviticus 19:18:  "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."  The injunction against vengeance is important; it is the expression of forgiveness of debt, spiritual and otherwise.  In the Lord's Prayer, we pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 6:12).  It is meant within this same framework, against revenge (especially spiritual debts, sin).  But Jesus takes these commands, and true to His own statement that He has come not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-18), He takes the Law -- in these commandments -- to its fullest expression, by teaching us to be neighbors.  This makes the Law not simply about the "children of your people" in the sense of blood or other earthly kinship, but "your people" in a spiritual sense.  It also takes the commandment and expands it to mean that to be a neighbor is to actively express compassion, mercy.  Let us keep in mind that we can also practice mercy and compassion for others through prayer, even when there is nothing else we can do for a person.  There is another aspect to this parable of the Good Samaritan that is important for us to understand, and it applies symbolically throughout the New Testament.  The ancient world used olive oil as the basis for all kinds of things, including healing ointments.  Here, when the Samaritan bandaged the hurt man's wounds with oil and wine, the word for oil in Greek is ἔλαιον/elaion.  But this word is pronounced alike to the one that means mercy, ἔλεος/eleios.  Where we read about oil (such as in the lamps of the young women in the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, found at Matthew 25:1-13), we can infer this as symbolism for mercy and grace.  This is also reflected in the oil of chrismation in our sacraments.  Jesus invites us to understand what it means "to be" and how that is related to what we "do."  Just as "children of Abraham" are not simply those who are physical descendants, but rather those who are "like Abraham" in doing the works Abraham did (John 8:39), so what it means to be a neighbor is reflected in the practice of living "like a neighbor" and doing the works which reflect that.  As disciples of Christ, it is important to consider and to work out what these things mean for ourselves.  To live as a Christian person is to practice mercy, but this is far away from a type of morality that confers formulaic answers for everything, or universal prescriptions.  The Good Samaritan's compassion comes from his heart, and in our case, it is meant to be a product also of our love of Christ.  It is in Christ that we are made into children by adoption (or "sons" and therefore heirs) of God; in mercy we become neighbors.  No one is being asked to risk life or injury around an abusive person.  But we are asked to "let go" of debts, giving them to God, and to practice mercy where we see a need, and as we seek to live prayerful lives.  Our peace is in our covenant with God, seeking God's will and doing it ("Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" - Luke 11:2).  Let us go and do likewise.