XV Sunday “c”
Luke 10:25-37
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He said in reply, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied,"A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.' Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
If you notice in the Gospel Jesus never answers the lawyer’s question. It says the Lawyer wanted to “justify himself,” to get the whole thing straight. He asks, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus had just said that he has to love his neighbor and the lawyer rather than asking “how” he is supposed to love his neighbor; he asks “who” is his neighbor. Jesus ignores the man’s question and tells a story of who the true neighbor is. I suppose that the lawyer was hoping that Jesus would create circles of love and explain that obviously he needs to love his family, his wife and his kids. Then those who perhaps love people in his neighborhood, people who were of the same race, or went to the same church. He had a hope that Jesus would narrow down this defintion of who his neighbor was, hopefully to make it easier to love his neighbor. He hoped it would just be a small group of friends, people who looked like him and thought like him. But no, Jesus doesn’t define who his neighbor is. In fact for the Christian this is never the question. Our neighbor is everyone. Everyone is our neighbor, especially the one who is most in need.
The dramatic exchange is the springboard for the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is right here that the point of the parable lies. “You shall love your neighbor” does not mean that you may love some people but not others; rather, it means: be a neighbor to another, not just indulging in general sentiments of kindness, but doing concrete acts for the person in need. To be a neighbor means that you help others.
The lawyer asked Jesus who is my neighbor but Jesus asks the lawyer another question. What does it mean to be a neighbor? The lawyer gives the right answer. The one who treated the dying man on the road with compassion. The lawyer wanted to do the minimum and Jesus makes it clear what the minimum is: everything! You must love God wholly, and love your neighbor as yourself. The lawyer gives the right answer to the question.
I think the key to reading, the reason why the Samaritan was held up as the “good neighbor” is that he got close to the man in need. The priest and the Levite both moved to the other side of the street. The Levites were the class of people who were seen as second in line to the priests. For me the Levites today are the people who go to mass every day. The ones we think are better than we are, more holy. But both these holy people moved to the other side of the road. The Samaritan, the outsider, the one who wasn’t considered to be a true Jew got close. He moved in and saw the man left for dead as not only alive but also as a human being, his brother if you will.
I don’t Jesus is calling us all to be good Samaritans. I don’t think we are suppose to walk down the streets and to begin to look for people who are in need. No, I think Jesus wants us to draw close to those who are in need. I have suggested several times, learn the name of the person you see on the street. Come to see them as a brother or sister. Not just an obstacle or someone to take pity on.
“Neighborliness is not a quality in other people, it is simply their claim on ourselves. We have literally no time to sit down and ask ourselves whether so-and-so is our neighbor or not. We must get into action; we must behave like a neighbor to those in need!” (D. Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship).
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