Understanding the Good Samaritan Parable
Who were the Samaritans?
Gustave Dore, The Good Samaritan. Dr. Amy-Jill Levine of Vanderbilt University explains how getting an accurate answer to the question “Who were the Samaritans?” can shed light on how shocking the Good Samaritan parable would have been to Jesus’ audience.
The Good Samaritan parable is one of the most beloved gospel stories for young and old alike. The story is told in Luke 10:29–37: A man going from Jerusalem to Jericho is attacked by robbers who strip him and beat him. A priest and a Levite pass by without helping him. But a Samaritan stops and cares for him, taking him to an inn where the Samaritan pays for his care.
As Dr. Amy-Jill Levine discusses in a column in the January/February 2012 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, the story has proven a popular one for sermons over the years, and it has been interpreted in many different ways—ranging from a tale about ritual purity to lessons about personal safety and even freedom fighters or universal healthcare. These sometimes-unusual interpretations are no doubt an attempt to find meaning in the parable for the times and concerns of a changing audience. And although that may be a worthy cause, Levine notes that in order to grasp the full import of the story, one must understand the times and concerns of first-century Judea, where Jesus and his followers lived. To do this, one must understand the relationship between Jews and Samaritans. This is sometimes hinted at in modern interpretations of the parable but rarely fully grasped.
So who were the Samaritans, really? Levine explains that they were not simply outcasts: They were the despised enemies of the Jews. Yet where listeners would have expected a Jew to be the hero of Jesus’ story, instead they would have been shocked to hear that it is a Samaritan. As Levine explains, only by understanding this reality does the powerful message of the parable come through:
The parable offers … a vision of life rather than death. It evokes 2 Chronicles 28, which recounts how the prophet Oded convinced the Samaritans to aid their Judean captives. It insists that enemies can prove to be neighbors, that compassion has no boundaries, and that judging people on the basis of their religion or ethnicity will leave us dying in a ditch.
Read more from Dr. Amy-Jill Levine about interpreting the Good Samaritan parable in Biblical Views, “The Many Faces of the Good Samaritan—Most Wrong,” Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 2012.
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This article was originally published in Bible History Daily January 2012.
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Biblical Views: The Many Faces of the Good Samaritan—Most Wrong
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At least twice Jesus affirms the election of the Jews by God through whom salvation for the world comes (himself) to the (Samaritan) woman at the well and the (Phoenician) woman who is willing to accept the leftover crumbs from Jews. Jesus weeps (in love) over Jerusalem. In reference to himself as the bridegroom on many occasions he is alluding (within the understanding of his hearers) to the betrothed relationship between God and his people, the Jews. Jesus loves his Jewish people and is heartbroken by their rejection, as in later times by his grafted in bride, the “Church.” So be thankful for his forgiveness, grace, love and salvation, that you will live forever in his presence in the glorious marriage to come.
The lawyer answered his own question The one that showed mercy and Jesus said go and do the same. What is so hard to understand!
Remember Jesus was from the line of Judah and the line of Aaron the high Priest. He was a King and a Priest.
Jesus came to teach the New church Nation. yet the Old Church Nation also teaches the same thing. Love God with all your soul and strength. love thy neighbor as thyself. no matter what religion they are. teach the coming of Christ to all.
A modern day interpretation.
A welfare recipient is beaten and left on the side of the rd. A pastor and a PTO soccer mom, fresh home from adopting her missionary African baby, walk by the beaten victim. A gay man dressed to the nine in his most Fabulous pride parade costume stops and exclaims OMG… (yes…just a word…don’t give it power…duh) He takes the welfare recipient to an inn and pays for her care. Through his compassion he awarded the kingdom of heaven ( Its within and cannot be accessed without the key of love)
I simply cannot understand how followers can’t get this. Then again I can’t expect a small child to grasp quantum physics. I beg for a change of mind, a rebirth of spirit, and for Childish (consciousness) to be put away..You see only in part now…Please….head to the then…the complete. ……
if you find this offensive, please read Corinthians 13 twenty times or until you understand. This is a message of love and absolute frustration with the lack of love and discernment of spirit in the Christian community.
Has the charge of Samaritan syncretistism been proven? I’ve seen the charge many many times, but some scholarship describes the schism in terms of differing interpretation and practice. Remember, the winners write the history.
A good person can be any body.Be a Samaritan,Jew or whatever doesn’t count..Though today we expect the Levites (priest or pastors) to be “good ,showing love to others,many of them are doing contrary to inclination.If you are not from same nation,denomination with them them mistreat you.Jesus said we should love everybody no matter what because Love is of GOD.When we love others,cares for them it shows we are of GOD.That’s what the”good Samaritan did.
I think that this is message meaning no matter who they are love them
Thanks for this gesture ! ..
There are many levels of understanding for this parable, and it is sad to see the deeper meanings have been lost. Yes, we can see the obvious one about our own need to be compassionate and care for those who are hurting. But, early Christians knew another one, a deeper one. Writers like Irenaeus, Clement, Ambrose, Origen, and others taught that Jesus was the Good Samaritan and that the wounded man represented each of us individually, and also all of mankind entirely.
The priest (“the Law”) and the Levite (“the prophets”) did not (or could not) save mankind in their sins. It was the “outcast” (Jesus) that bound his wounds, “anointed” him with oil and wine, and carried his burden to the inn (the Church) where he would be safe (literally saving the man from spiritual death). In the end, he left the man in the innkeeper’s care, and promised to come again to his “church”.
Hey, don’t argue with me about the interpretation, I’m just sharing what the first Christians believed. It would do others good to learn more about them…
LDS, that’s a superb explanation.thanks.