Read: Luke 10:25-37
Pray: Reflect on the people you’ve encountered today. How did you respond to them? Pray a prayer of confession for ways you weren’t the best neighbor. Ask God to help you be a better neighbor to everyone you encounter.
Respond: Think of a person in your life who could especially use a good neighbor right now. Find a way to show your neighborly love to him/her this week (ex. phone call, card, visit, home cooked meal, cookies, hug, etc.)
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Think of a time when someone unexpected came to your aid. What was at stake? How did it effect you? How did you feel? How did you respond?
Why do you suppose the priest and the Levite passed by the injured man on the road? What might have been going through their heads?
Imagine the end of this story. What might the man who was rescued have done? How might he have reacted?
What’s the answer to the lawyer’s question: How do we inherit eternal life?
Consider the word inherit … what does this word usually mean? What do we do to earn an inheritance? From whom does it come? Why?
BIG IDEA: The way of God is a way of compassion.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
The beginning of this parable is set in the context of an encounter that Mark records later in Jesus’ ministry (Mark 12:28-34). In both encounters, the Shema (Deut. 6:4-6) is cited along with Leviticus 19:18. The Shema is the primary confession of the Jewish faith, and expresses the centrality of a love for God. Both of these commandments maintain centrality in the Jewish faith even today. These are the only two instances where these commandments are cited together in Scripture.
THE NEIGHBOR
At several points in his teachings on the law, Jesus actually expands the law from the Jewish understanding (cf. Matt. 5:17). This is one of those instances. In the Jewish context, the neighbor in scriptural commands was understood as someone who physically lived nearby – specifically, fellow Israelites.
SAMARITANS
The Samaritans are a group of people who lived (and continue to live) in the region of Samaria, north of Jerusalem, worshipping on Mount Gerizim. They are best understood as a conservative group within Judaism, united by God’s Word spoken in the same holy Scripture. Unlike the Judaism traditionally described in the New Testament, however, Samaritans are not attached to Jerusalem and temple worship. They claim that Mount Gerizim is more holy than Mount Zion because Jerusalem is not as deeply entrenched in Israel’s history (Deut 11:29, 27:12). They are described as conservative because they preserve only the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) as holy Scripture, they observe the Sabbath strictly, and keep other ritual requirements with strict literalism.
The Samaritan Chronicles states that this group broke off from Israel around the time of Eli, before King David’s united monarchy and the preservation, after Solomon, of only the Southern tribe of Judah. The Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings 17 states that the Samaritans are descended from foreign ancestors and are not a part of the tribe of Israel. Both of these statements come from a particular cultural perspective and are unlikely to reflect their true origins. However, since the Samaritans don’t practice a national identity as a part of their religion, it seems likely that they arose in the period of time after Israel returned from Babylonian exile.
In the first century, what can be known is that there was a group of people with a distinct identity living in and around Samaria. They maintained their existence with a rebuilt temple on Mount Gerizin and worshiped the Hebrew God Yahweh. Jesus’ exchange with a woman of Samaria expresses their relationship with the rest of Israel clearly in John 4:1-42.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
The Samaritan sees on when he comes near (10:33). The priest and the Levite never get close enough to really see.
What might we walk past “from a distance” without really seeing each day?
What would need to change for us to open our eyes and draw near?
Underline all of the action verbs in vv. 33-35.
What actions does the Samaritan perform?
What does this say about the kind of love / compassion that Jesus is talking about?
How does Jesus want us to respond to suffering / injustice / needs of any kind?
Many interpret this story as a mandate to accept everyone.
What was the intent of the original question (Luke 10:29)?
How does Jesus change the focus (Luke 10:36)?
To whom, then, are we called to be a neighbor / what is this story about (cf. Luke 10:37)?
British scholar C.H. Dodd defines parables in this way: “At its simplest the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought.”
Luke 10:37b contains one interpretation of this parable – as an example story. What would this have meant for the early Christian community Luke was writing to?
What might this parable have meant for the pre-Resurrection community Jesus was preaching to?
What does this parable mean for our community / you today?
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