Good?  I Don’t think So!

Read 2 Chronicles 28 : 1-15

Luke 10: 30b-37

          "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them.  Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 

          The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.'

          Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 

          He said, "The one who showed him mercy."

          Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

          This story is prompted by two questions - “What can I do to inherit eternal life?” And - “Who is my neighbor?”

While it may sound like the questioning lawyer is trying - Luke even accuses him of - tricking Jesus into impossible answers, Jesus answers both questions as if the inquisitor seriously desired an answer he could use in his life - right then.

          I want to propose a better picture - clearing up a few other misapprehensions we may have about this parable - before I go any further.  So let me tell you the story from an almost modern perspective.

          As a setup let me remind you about what a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho entailed.  First the geography of that journey.

          The trip is downhill all the way.  Jerusalem is 2,500 feet above the surface of the Mediterranean Sea.  Jericho is 825 feet below sea-level.  That’s about a 3/5 of a mile drop in a span of 17 miles of road.  In that 17 miles were barely navigable rock strewn paths, narrow rock walled trails, and caves which harbored thieves and robbers.

          The Jewish historian Josephus says the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was called the “Way of Blood” because of the highwaymen who robbed there.  The robbers of Jesus' day were men who were thieves in that they sought what did not rightfully belong to them, but they were also men of violence who would often operate in numbers and deprive their victims by effecting bodily harm.  Josephus informs us that out of the 40, 000 men dismissed by Herod the Great from building the temple, a large part became highwaymen.  So that’s the lay of the land and it’s human perils.

          In good storytelling fashion the priest and Levite in Jesus tale anticipate the third figure - the hero.  Jews in the first century were typically priests, Levites, or Israelites.  The third man - the hero - should be an Israelite - the common man.  The parable shocks the people when the third figure is not an Israelite, but a Samaritan.

          So a man goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho - the Greek says - “some guy” a trader perhaps?  A fellow going home?  We don’t know, but whoever he was he didn’t deserve his fate.  He fell among thieves and robbers nevertheless - and they beat him and left him for dead.  So far - so normal.  Some listener may have begun daydreaming at this point.

          Let me tell the story from that almost modern perspective.  Don’t go daydreaming on me!

          Some guy - let’s say a Jew to keep the storyline straight - was going down the road from Munich to Berlin.  He was walking cause a car can’t go down that trail.  A band of hooligans fell on him, robbed him, and left him for dead. 

            Now by chance a president of the local Jewish congregation was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Rabbi, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

          But a Nazi Storm Trooper while riding his motorcycle came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured water and sulfa on them.  Then he put him in his sidecar, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 

          The next day he took out 3000 marks, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.'

          Uh, yeah, but I did say ALMOST modern.  My point requires this scenario.

          But a Nazi Storm Trooper?  Yes.  His appearance in the story is JUST as shocking to us as the Samaritan was to Jesus’ listeners.

          Can you imagine the look on the lawyer’s face?  I can.  I saw the look on your faces.

          A Storm Trooper helping a Jew AND paying for his care?  A Good Samaritan?  I don’t think so.  No such thing.    

          Samaritans were not outcasts, they were the enemies of the Jews.  You heard the passage from 2 Chronicles.  Josephus reports that during the governorship of Cumanus, Samaritans killed, “a great many” Galilean pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.  Yeah. . . I think Nazi Storm Trooper works.  

          That’s why a first-century Jew hearing this parable would think - There is no such thing as a good Samaritan.  But unless that acknowledgment is accepted, the person in the ditch dies.  The story ends - fade to black, as it were.

          Jesus actually gives the lawyer an out when he asks, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"

          The question he didn’t ask may have been to much for the lawyer who had already been rudely accosted by the thought of a Samaritan acting kindly to a Jew.  That question is this, “Was the beaten man a neighbor to the Samaritan?” meaning - Did the beaten man help the Samaritan?

          That is the real question.  Did the Samaritan come to this place hating Jews and find he could not worship YHWH and leave another human being on the Way of Blood to die - Jew or not? 

          Jesus is saying that the neighbor leads us to righteousness.  Yes, the beaten man is saved, but so too is the Samaritan.  In this parable of grace - grace abounds.

One would hope my almost modern parables would turn out the same way.

          Let me wipe the fog from the glass a little better.

          Two monks walked back to their monastery in the freezing cold

          As they crossed a bridge, they heard a man calling for help in the ravine below.  They wanted to stop, but knew they must reach the monastery before sunset or they would freeze to death.

          The first monk chooses to risk the danger of the cold in order to help another to safety.  He climbs down into the ravine and gathers the wounded man into his arms, and slowly makes his way back to the monastery.  The second monk has already gone on ahead, determined to get back safely before sunset.

          Night comes, and with it, the bitter cold.  As the first monk nears the monastery, he stumbles over something in the middle of the road.  To his sorrow, it is the body of his brother who had gone on alone and had frozen to death.  In seeking to save his life, he had lost it.

          But the compassionate monk, willing to lose his life, was kept warm by the heat exchanged from carrying the stranger in need.

          The neighbor puts him or herself beside the helpless and stands with them in their need.  The neighbor in need offers the helper a way out of spiritual blandness and a way to righteousness.  Neither is better than the other, neither is more righteous than the other.  They are simply neighbors.  Aren’t we all? 

AMEN.