The Good Samaritan Part One

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Luke records in his gospel (Luke 10:25-37) a conversation between Jesus and an Israelite expert in the Law of Moses. The expert wanted to test Jesus in his theology and knowledge of God. The expert was probably not aware of what a fantastic question he asked of Jesus.

“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Is there a better question that any human can ask of Jesus?

Jesus then asked the law expert two important questions:

1.    “What is written?”  For us, that would mean, what does the Bible say?

2.    “How do you read it?”  Personal interpretation of what is written matters. Jesus is now testing the expert.

The expert in the Law replies to Jesus that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength (Deut 6:5) and love our neighbor as ourself (Lev 19:18). This was the legally perfect Sunday School answer and was part of the Jewish declaration of faith known as the Shema, still in use today. Jesus commends the expert for a correct answer and tells him, “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28).

No self-respecting legal expert can resist looking for loopholes, exemptions, and a way to be legally not guilty of wrongdoing. The legal expert asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”.  Surely, he doesn’t have to do good to everyone.

According to Oral Tradition, the laws passed down in Israelite society by word of mouth, there were legal loopholes to loving your neighbor. For instance, if your neighbor was an unrepentant sinner, you weren’t required to get involved in your neighbor’s problems. Other Jewish writings of the day suggested that Israelites should only love God’s people (Sirach 12:1-4).

 Reality and Religion

The conversation between the law expert and Jesus is now set up for the well-known parable of the good Samaritan, which we will look at in part 2. Just for a moment, let’s imagine that we are listening to this conversation in real time.

An intelligent expert in religious law thinks he can outsmart Jesus about the law. The expert tells Jesus that the greatest commandment given by God to his people is to love God deeply and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus replies, “Do this and you will live” Luke 10:28).

Here’s where our common humanity trips us up. When Jesus said, “do this”, he was not saying “go out and do good things and check it off your list”. Jesus was saying, “Go out and be the love of God in the world”. Let the love of God overflow through you in the form of good deeds, lifegiving words, loving attitudes. The Apostle Paul wrote that we can have all the spiritual gifts in the world and do all the good deeds in the world, but without God’s love, we are just making noise (1 Cor 13:1-3 my paraphrase).

The American education system has trained us to study for the test and get correct answers. What we know is more important than how we live. How easy it is to schedule kind acts and charitable events on the calendar and go out and do good for others, and at the same time, forget to be the love of God that is in us!

It is therefore appropriate that Luke placed the story of Mary and Martha immediately following the parable of the good Samaritan. Two sisters are hosting a dinner party. One is in a bad mood while frantically serving. One is sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening and loving Jesus. Who did Jesus say chose better? It's all about the love.

“Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things, but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).

Copyright @ TA Boland 2025