My Sisters and Brothers:
We may wish to be very critical of both the priest and the Levite who had passed by the man left for dead on the side of the road in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37). To us, they certainly seem to have been pitiless, selfish, and very callous toward the needs of the man who had been beaten, robbed, and nearly killed. But it’s important to note that Jesus was speaking to a “scholar of the law,” and such a person would have understood that the priest and the Levite did exactly what they were supposed to do!
Because of their sacred duties within the Temple in Jerusalem, and because of the religious laws by which they were obligated, the priest and the Levite were required to remain “ritually pure.” It was therefore their solemn and absolute responsibility to avoid being in the presence of dead bodies; for all they knew the man who had been robbed was already dead, and so in order to remain faithful to the law, they simply “passed by on the opposite side.” It very well may have pained them to do so, but they had no choice. Anyone familiar with the religious laws at that time would have been completely sympathetic to the predicament of the priest and Levite.
The Samaritan, on the other hand, was not bound by any such religious restrictions, and fortunately was completely free to risk coming into contact with someone who had possibly died. And we all know the rest of the story.
In the parable, Jesus cleverly affirmed the law, and the religious duties of priests and Levites of that time, but he also clearly signaled that he had come to bring a new way of thinking and of doing things. This of course was characteristic of the entire message and ministry of Jesus. He had come to establish a New Order, and this is precisely the point of the parable: the Old Order had passed away.
Jesus wasn’t specifically criticizing the individuals who were the priest and the Levite featured in the parable, after all they had simply followed their prescribed duties. No, in fact it was much, much deeper than that: Jesus wanted to indicate a complete and radical change from the old way of doing things; he had come to announce new and systemic changes to the religious laws, practices and even the beliefs of those who had come before him. This is precisely why Jesus was in constant conflict with the religious leaders of his time; this is why the Pharisees, the Scribes, the elders, and the teachers of the law were so critical of him, and why they ultimately had him put to death.
With the New Order of Jesus in mind, we can actually understand the reason for the following question and its answer in the parable: “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim? The scholar of the law answered, ‘The one who treated him with mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise’” (see verses 36 and 37). The Samaritan was not encumbered by the Old Order, and therefore was free to act with mercy, and so in this case was able to embody the new way of thinking. This New Order was above the law, and it was characterized by compassion, forgiveness, kindness, patience, sympathy, tolerance, charity, benevolence, pity, etc., and all that mercy was able to engender in human hearts.
And so I believe the Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us too that we must always guard against becoming enslaved to any possible old and outdated “religious laws” that risk trumping mercy. Even today, and for us, I believe this New Order requires constant self-reflection and “updating” – both by individuals and by entire communities of faith. Jesus challenges us all to imitate the mercy of the Samaritan, and so he instructs us all as well to “go and do likewise.”
Praise God! Friar Timothy
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