Over the next four weeks we will take four different looks at this passage. We will look at the parable from the perspective of the victim, the priest and the Levite, the inn keeper, and the Good Samaritan. As we look at this parable from four different perspectives, it’s still important to remember what prompted Jesus to preach this well known story. 

A legal expert approaches Jesus to test him. The occasion for this moment isn’t rooted in genuine interest in Jesus or what Jesus has to share, but to test Jesus. How does the motive impact how we hear this parable? The expert asks Jesus about eternal life but he wants to know how he might “inherit” eternal life. Is that how we understand the gift of salvation or is there more to eternal life than an inheritance? Jesus response makes sense. Since his conversation is an expert in the law, ask him about the law. The expert has a great response, “Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus tells him that if he does this, he will live. And if the expert had left the conversation there, maybe we don’t get this parable, but the legal expert, “wanting to vindicate himself” asks, “Who is my neighbor?” Cue the music as Jesus now tells this well known story. 

Now to our focused character for this week, the victim. We don’t know much about this guy. We know that he is leaving Jerusalem, maybe he was there for religious purposes, maybe he lives in Jerusalem and he’s traveling to Jericho, regardless he finds himself in a difficult situation. Not only is he robbed, the thieves take his clothes, beat him, and leave him for dead. After this the victim is merely along for the ride. He is sidestepped by a priest and a Levite but he is rescued by the Samaritan. Is this surprising? Would the victim be OK with a Samaritan helping him? It’s an odd question as he is presumably death without this rescue but some have argued that cultural differences between the victim and the Samaritan would have made this rescue unlikely at best. He cares for the man, transports him to an Inn, and pays for his care. Why? Because he was moved by compassion to this man in need. This parable is bookended with this conversation between Jesus and the expert. Jesus asks him, “Who was a neighbor to the man in need?” The expert doesn’t refer to him as the Samaritan but rather “the one who showed him mercy” to which Jesus replies, “Go and do likewise.”

This story doesn’t happen without the victim. The victim doesn’t go looking for this situation, it happens to him, and it leads to an opportunity for compassion. How do we respond to those who are in need, especially when it is out of their control? How do we hope others will respond to us when we find ourselves in need? This is something that we are struggling with today. Do we come to the aid of those who are in need or do they just need to pull harder on those boot straps? How do we hope others will respond when we encounter struggles and we are literally or metaphorically, left for dead? Hopefully there are still neighbors out there who will show mercy.