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Go and Do Thou LikewisePreached at St. Barnabas Church, Bellville, TX Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, 2009 by The Rev. Stephen E. Stults Luke 10:30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. When one considers the Gospel selection for the day, it is truly remarkable how many sayings, now considered commonplace, have passed from the Bible into ordinary conversation. For example, “an eye for an eye,” “the prodigal Son” “the love of money is the root of all evil,” “judge not, lest ye be judged,” and of course, “the Good Samaritan.” Most people, however, don’t realize the source of many of these aphorisms, or if they do, would have no idea what part of the Bible from which they come. The concept of the Good Samaritan, for example, is so commonplace that we even have Good Samaritan laws on the books. As you know, these statutes limit or even void liability for a person who acts as a “good Samaritan” to someone in need. In short, the concept, if not the parable, is very well known. Universal Applications
The meaning of the parable is very plain. Put in modern language, a man is attacked by thieves, who rob him, wound him severely, and leave him for dead. He is lying on the highway, stripped of his garments, bleeding and probably comatose. A religious leader, who in this case happens to be a priest, comes by, looks at him and passes by on the other side, not wanting to “get involved.” Then, another religious leader, similar to a monk, comes by, looks at him, and also passes by, for much the same reason. Finally, an ordinary traveling businessman comes by, sees him and has pity on him. He gives the man first aid, puts him on his own transportation and takes him to an inn, where he puts the man up and takes care of him. In the morning, he pays the innkeeper and gives him instructions to “take care of him” and promises to pay whatever the manager spends for further medical care. Jesus then asks the obvious question: Who acted as the man’s neighbor in this case? The lawyer, who was attempting to “justify himself,” gets it right and Christ instructs him to “go and do likewise.” Again, if this is what one gets from the parable, great! It is one of the great lessons in Scripture that we are certainly are to act as a “neighbor” to our fellow man. In short, it is good, very good, to help others. In fact, when the occasion arises, it is our Christian duty to do so. But, there is so much more… Remember that Scripture, being the infallible, inerrant Word of God, through which Christ speaks through the power of the Holy Ghost, confronts us with multiple levels of meaning, simultaneously. Particular to Universal With that thought in mind, let us go from the universal applications of this parable to some very particular observations that Our Lord wanted to make. First of all, why did our Lord choose a Samaritan for the central character, or protagonist, if you will? Why not just choose a fellow Jew, or even a Roman? The answer is historical and is very plainly revealed to us in Scripture. Like most of the problems today in the Middle East, the situations are not new and the answers are not easy. In this case, we have to begin with 1 Kings 12:16, of which we spoke last Sunday. You will recall this is where Rehoboam, who was the spoiled, aristocratic son of Solomon, undoes all the painstaking work his grandfather David had accomplished and his father Solomon had held together. Recall that it was David who united the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, Northern and Southern, under his kingship. It was David who subdued the various peoples around the Jewish state and compelled them to serve the Jews. For a detailed account of this, see 2 Sam. 9. Solomon built on his father’s successes and magnified the Jewish state to be the greatest wonder of that time in the ancient world. Both the grandeur and the splendor of the Jews were legendary. The Queen of Sheba, when she sought Solomon’s wisdom and beheld the glories of Jerusalem, said “The half was not told me.” The Temple was one of the marvels of the ancient world. Solomon’s trade empire and incredible wealth was also legendary. But, as we have discussed, and as we all know, empires do not come without a price. Thus, the elders of Israel (the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom), came to King Rehoboam and pleaded for less taxes. However, King Rehoboam, in one of the biggest blunders in the history of statecraft, forsook the wise counsel of the older men who had advised his father. Although they counseled him to answer the Northern ambassadors gently and win their loyalty, he instead chose the advice of the young men who surrounded him. These were his cohorts, with whom he had grown up. They, of course, advised him to be “tough.” Thus, he answered them roughly and lost their loyalty. They literally turned their backs on the Southern Kingdom and walked away. Later, they would stone a tax collector sent by Rehoboam. The reason this is so significant is that the Jewish state was now weakened. Later, the Ten Northern tribes (Israel) would be so threatened by aggressor states that they would ask a historic enemy, Assyria, for help. Tilgleser III, otherwise known as Pul, would respond to their plea by sweeping down and capturing the entire area known as the Northern Kingdom. He would end up carrying off all the people in those huge population displacements of which the ancient Eastern potentates were so fond. This was called the Northern Captivity. In this case, the Ten Tribes were dispersed into various parts of the vast Assyrian Empire, never to be assembled again. The prophet Hosea 9:17 attests to this as he says: “My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.“ Keep in mind that God didn’t do this simply to be mean. The Northern Kingdom was rife with apostasy and idolatry. The Israelites were deeply into the various fertility religions of the Canaanite nations around them, including the Baals, Milcom, Astoreh, and Rephaim, just to name a few. God had sent prophet after prophet to no avail. Thus Amos tells us in 9:9 “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” Israel’s idolatry is chiefly why God forsook them to their enemies. They broke the Covenant so grievously and decided that they were autonomous, rather than under God’s rule. Thus, God left them to their fate. In time, the Assyrians would bring in other peoples to populate the areas once held by the Israelites. This area would eventually become known as Samaria. Thus, in the eyes of the Jews, the Samaritans were a “mongrel” people. Although they had quasi-Jewish origins, they were not Jews, the sons of Abraham. To make matters worse, the Samaritans also had a type of Temple worship, which “aped” the Jerusalem Temple. They had a temple on Mt. Gerazim, they had a type of sacrificial worship, and even had some corrupt Jewish Scriptures to use. But, they were not pure, no matter what their intent, in Jewish eyes. Thus, for Christ to make a Samaritan the hero of the story was a lot to stomach, as far as the Jews were concerned. On the other hand, why did Christ feature a priest and a Levite, two of the most respected classes in Jewish society? Who do they symbolize, other than the elite of Jewish society? The answer is simple: this parable is very much preached against the Jews and their supposed religious superiority. Of course, it also applies to us as well, when we are tempted to be self-righteous or self-important. Recall that the Jews were God’s Chosen People, the receptors of the Law and the Prophets. They were the ones God meant to evangelize the world. Yet, let’s take a look at the parable in that light. First, consider that we should see the wounded traveler as representing fallen mankind, who is quite literally attacked and overcome by sin. He is assaulted by evil and potentially, death. If he were left alone, quite probably he would die. Similarly, if left alone, mankind also is dead in its sins and has a certain fate of perishing absolutely. In Ephesians 2:5, St. Paul tells us, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) “ That is, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Gentiles, not the Jews, would propagate salvation to the world through the Gospel. The Jews, symbolized by both the priest and the Levite, reject their calling. Thus, we see that the temple sacrificial rite, which is symbolized by the priest, and the Law, symbolized by the Levite, both are unable to ultimately save mankind. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ, symbolized by the compassionate business traveler, is indeed the “Good Samaritan” to mankind. Only through the Gospel of Christ can mankind live, both now and forever. As St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 1.1, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” The Gospel is indeed the Good Samaritan to our souls. But notice, please, how the Gospel came to us. For that understanding, and for a more complete context of the parable, we must go to John 4, where Jesus has his encounter with the Samaritan women at the well. During this encounter, where the Samaritan woman wonders why a Jewish rabbi would even speak to her, let alone ask her for water, Jesus tells her in John 4:22: “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.” In this amazing encounter, which entails a sermon in itself, Jesus actually reveals himself to her as the Christ of God. So, salvation came to us via the Jews, not by their propagation, but by their rejection of both their role in the world and their rejection of Christ. Rejection by the Jews means the Gentiles receive salvation. Hosea foresaw this in his prophetic vision, in Hosea 2:23, “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.” St. Paul will echo this in the book of Romans, saying in Roman 9:33: ”As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” The Jews’ stumbling block is indeed our glory. Oh, the magnificence of God! As St. Paul once exclaimed, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). Through His most mighty wisdom and mercy, he used the Jews to save the Gentiles, and in turn uses the Gentiles to save the world through the propagation of the Gospel. How glorious and mysterious this is! Yet to guard against pride, God gives us instructions through the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. First in Romans 11:12: ”Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?” And then in Romans 11:19: ”Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.” But lest we feel prideful, St. Paul tells us in Romans 11:23: “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.” After this, we Christians can say nothing, but bow our heads in wonder, awe, and love. Simply, we must praise Him whose ways are not our ways and whose thoughts are not our thoughts! Returning to the universal applications of this parable, our job as Christians is to be the Good Samaritans to the world through the Gospel. There are three levels to this:
In doing so, we will give others the chance to experience the saving grace of the Gospel. We too can be the Good Samaritan to those we meet.
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