“JESUS IS THE GOOD SAMARITAN FOR YOU”
Saint Luke 10. 23-37
The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity: 2 September Anno Domini 2007
Fr Watson
The “Lawyer” wasn’t a modern attorney schooled in English “common law” or in American statutory minutiae. The man who questioned the Lord that day was an Old Testament “scholar,” a Scribe, probably a Pharisee. He did not believe Jesus was The Lord, the Messiah. For all the man’s head knowledge of Hebrew writ, he had missed the whole point of the Redeemer doing the His question was one of pure “self-righteousness.” If one thinks that Jesus is only “Teacher” one doesn’t know Him. If one thinks the proper question is “…what shall I do to inherit eternal life” the only thing inherited will be eternal death. Working for something is entirely different than inheriting something. One earns ones wages. One receives un-earned, un-merited gifts by Grace. Love and Mercy are incredibly “good news” to those who know they don’t deserve them. You don’t deserve them, neither did the Lawyer. Trying to “test” Jesus he puts forward the question that he thinks he already knows the answer to; standard cross-examination technique.
The answer which the man gave was not meant to encourage him or you. The command to Love God and Love Your Neighbor damns. If you could love the Lord perfectly than you would also be able to love your brothers and sisters as yourself. “Do this and you will live” replied the Savior. If the Lawyer could have, then Jesus would not have needed to be Savior; the Lawyer could have saved himself by hard work, dedication, and perseverance.
The Lawyer’s second question shows his insincerity; in a way it’s like St. Peter’s question: “how many times must I forgive my neighbor.” The man was looking for a “bare minimum.” You know about that kind of minimum effort.
The parable of the “Good Samaritan” was not understood by the Lawyer; nor is it usually understood by Bible Scholars and Christians. The parable is not an “instruction” informing you how you must take care of people who need your care. You already have that with the Second Table of the Law.
The Lord’s final words of this text were directed at a hard-hearted, stiff-necked unbelieving, hypocritical Pharisee Lawyer. “Go and do likewise” is a stark and terrifying demand. Yes, of course, the Lawyer was correct; the Samaritan who showed mercy on the victim of robbery and beating was indeed a good neighbor. But our Lord knew that the Lawyer still thought that this kind of mercy was something that he could do. The ego and pride of man must be killed before the mercy of The Savior bandages wounds, and dispenses oil and wine. The heart is first made contrite by the Word and then the Lord heals with the oil of Baptism and the Wine (the Blood) of Eucharist.
Jesus was accused by unbelieving enemies of having a demon (of doing miracles by the power of Beelzebub) and of being a “Samaritan,”a half-breed, impure, and illegitimate person. Our Lord denied that He had a demon but did not deny that He was a Samaritan. And although the Son of God was purer than pure; the true Son of David; the ultimate in legitimacy, He was also a “Samaritan.” Jesus did not come from the power center of Jerusalem. He did not arise through the ranks of Hebrew Sadducees. He was not a King in a worldly and power seeking way. Jesus came to the lost people of Israel from the northern area of Galilee; a land of Gentiles. Jesus’ public ministry arose not in Bethlehem but in Nazareth and Capernaum. The Lord was no Temple Priest or Aaronic Levite. Jesus was the Temple and He was the Sacrifice. Jesus was not a Scribe of Levitical rules and regulations; He was the Lion of Judah Who fulfilled perfectly ALL the uncompromising Laws of God.
Jesus is the Good Samaritan Who by giving His life for you in all His works of total obedience rescues you from thieving demons and satanic self-wills. Jesus is the Good Samaritan Who by giving His Body and Blood for you upon the Cross brings you back from your naked, dirty and dead roadside ditch. The two denarii are His Body and Blood given and shed. The clothing you now wear is Christ’s Body Itself; for you are In Him and He is In You. And thus, with inwardly-curved Lawyers dispensed with, until such time as the Law breaks their stone hearts, the Lord now “turns to His disciples, here at Mass, and says privately, Blessed are your eyes which see the things you see…and hear what you hear.”
Jesus is the Good Samaritan.
In the Name of The Father and of The + Son and of The Holy Ghost