Lk. 10:25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what must
I do to inherit eternal life?”
These first four verses deal with a subject that is very difficult for the Christian Church to come to grips with. And Jesus deals with this same subject in Luke 18:18-23 and Mark 10:17-22. It is the subject of eternal life in the Torah. The Jewish people have always believed that they would have their part in the “world to come” (Olam haBah) when they die. BT:Berachoth 28b says, “R. Eliezer was asked by his students, ‘Rabbi, teach us the ways of life so that by them we may attain to life in the future world.” The Jews also believed that righteous Gentiles who repented and lived in accordance with the Noachide Laws would also have their part.
Sources: Luke 18:18-23; Mark 10:17-22; BT:Berachoth 28b
Lk. 10:26 He said to him, "What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it?”
Lk. 10:27 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 “Love
your neighbor as yourself.”
The two verses of Scripture the lawyer is quoting was always considered by the Jews as condensed version of the Ten Commandments. The first four commandments had to do with man’s relationship with God, and the last six had to do with man’s relationship with his neighbor.
Lk. 10:28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
Yeshua confirms that he has answered correctly and will attain eternal life by obedience to those commandments. That opens a whole can of worms for Christian theology.
Lk. 10:29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Yeshua, “And who is my
neighbor?”
This parable is an answer to the lawyer’s question, “who is my neighbor?” He is not a lawyer or attorney in the modern sense of the word, but a man devoted to, and an expert in the Law, both Written and Oral.
Lk. 10:30 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.”
The parable of the “Good Samaritan” is the classic form of the story parable. Parables are stories that communicate a message. The core message of the story rests upon the foundation of a strong Jewish theology about God and about each human being created in the divine image. The parable drives home a profound theological truth. It introduces the members of the cast, and then takes the listeners on a journey in which they come in contact with the internal conflict of the drama. The resolution of the conflict communicates the deeper meaning of the story.
Every individual is created in the image of God. Even the exceedingly ugly man was created according to the divine plan, and his rich spiritual insight demonstrates his godlike characteristics. In Jewish theology love for each person is based on the understanding of creation. God’s goodness is discovered in the people He created.
Lk. 10:31 “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.”
Leviticus 21:11 says, “H (the priest) shall not go in where there is any dead body; he shall not defile himself even for his father or mother.” The Written Law prohibits that a priest or Levite cannot become ritually impure, even for a member of their own family. If they discover a dead corpse in the middle of the road, they could pass on by on the other side, keeping the proper distance, and thus protect their ritual purity. At least a literal interpretation of the Written Law would prohibit a priest or Levite from burying an abandoned dead corpse.
Source: Lev. 21:11
The Pharisees lived by a different code. In the Oral Law they have a different tradition. The Mishnah teaches that a person is required to bury an abandoned corpse (in Hebrew Met Mitzvah). In fact, they taught that though the High Priest himself may not become ritually impure to bury a member of his own family, he is required to become impure in order to bury an abandoned body. M:Nazir 7:1 says, “A High Priest (or ordinary priest) and a nazirite may not become unclean because of their kindred; but they may contact uncleanness because of a dead body as commanded by the Law. If they are on a journey and found a dead body to be dealt with as commanded by the Law, R. Eliezer says, ‘the High Priest may become defiled but a nazirite may not contact defilement.’” In Rabbinic literature there is a case where ritual defilement takes precedence over personal issues of life and death (BT:Yoma 1:12; M:Yoma 2:2).
Lk. 10:32 “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed on by on the other side.”
In contrast to the Samaritan, the Levite and the priest were true members of the Jewish community and served in the Temple. Although they were descended from the priestly families, they had one thing in common with the Samaritans. The priestly class from the time of Yeshua and before was almost exclusively composed of Sadducees, and like the Samaritans, the Sadducees rejected the Mishnah (Oral Law). The Oral Law, which was accepted by the Pharisees and the majority of the people during the period, taught that preservation of life supersedes all other laws. The Sadducees, having rejected the Oral Law, interpreted the Scriptures in a literal fashion. They emphasized religious and ceremonial purity. Unlike the Pharisees, who interpreted the Law in a way to give it practical application in daily living, while preserving its validity. The priests and Levites preferred to adhere to the letter of the Law.
In the parable, the Levite and the priest avoid ritual uncleanness and do not give life-sustaining assistance to the man who fell among bandits. They are going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, probably after fulfilling their religious duties in the Temple. They do not desire to become ritually unclean and do not wish to go through the process of ceremonial cleansing.
Lk. 10:33 “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him."
The three key factors in the story parable, namely, the Levite, the priest, and the Samaritan, all have a function to fill. In English when people hear the word “Samaritan,” everyone is conditioned to think of a good person who helps others. But in the time of Yeshua, no one would have associated goodness with a Samaritan. In the mind of the people, Samaritan was anything but good. The Samaritan was understood to be an enemy. Though they accepted the Five Books of Moses as authoritative for faith and practice, they rejected the Oral Law and were not considered Jews. The Samaritans had a place of worship in biblical Shechem at Mount Gerizim. They had even built their own temple there.
Lk. 10:34 “And went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal.”
The Samaritan stops. He reverses the actions of the bandits. The bandits: (1) stripped the man; (2) beat him; (3) abandoned him; (4) and having robbed him, left him half-dead. The Samaritan: (1) bound his wounds by clothing the stripped man; (2) poured oil and wine where he was beaten; (3) took the man with him to an inn; and (4) paid the bills of the man who had been robbed. He gave healing and life-sustaining help.
One must not miss the connection between the Samaritan and the Sadducean priest and Levite. Not only do the priest and Levite reject the Oral Law, but also the Samaritan lived only by the written letter of the Five Books of Moses. From a religious perspective the perspective the Samaritan was endangering his ritual purity in the same way that the priest and Levite may have become ceremonial unclean. The Sadducees were not willing to take the risk, but the Samaritan realized that saving a life was the highest priority. Moreover, the Samaritan was taking risks to help the man in need. After all, if the injured man died, he could have been blamed for his death, and there were no witnesses to prove his innocence.
Lk. 10:35 “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.’”
Lk. 10:36 “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
No one discern the identity of the person in need. Is he a priest? Is he a Pharisee? Is he Jewish? Is he a Samaritan? His clothes which could identify him as belonging to a particular community, had been taken. He was simply a person in need.
Lk. 10:37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Yeshua said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
In listening to this story, often it is mistakenly thought that the neighbor is the one who needs help. The parable teaches that the neighbor is not the man in need of life-giving assistance, but the enemy. Only by assuming the position of one in need is it possible to recognize that a neighbor is actually an enemy. When a person is in need of life-saving assistance, even an enemy who behaves like a friend is welcome. The Samaritan, who is viewed as an enemy, teaches us that what is meant by the word “neighbor,” because he acted like a neighbor to someone who needed help. That is why the Bible teaches us in Leviticus 19:18 to "Love your neighbor as yourself.”
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