Then came an absolute BOMBSHELL! "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was..." I don't know if they were laughing before, but I bet you could have heard a pin drop after Jesus said "Samaritan." Jesus is totally changing the story from what they expected! I'm telling you this was shocking if not downright scandalous. And just to make sure they don't miss the part about "touch no unclean thing" being less important, the Samaritan undoes the harm done to the man: 1. Robbers went away leaving him (alone) half-dead--Samaritan took pity on him and went to him. 2. Robbers stripped him--Samaritan bandaged him 3. Robbers beat him--Samaritan poured on oil and wine 4. Robbers robbed him--Samaritan left money for his expenses with the innkeeper. Did you ever have a brother (or sister) try to annoy you by going, "touch-touch-touch-touch." Do you know what I mean? It's like Jesus is doing that here. If they weren't still in shock, the Pharisees in His audience might have found that funny, too. But that's not the point. Remember, the audience thought that it was going to be about which of the three people saw THE ROBBED MAN AS HIS NEIGHBOR. But instead, Jesus asks, "Which of these three do you think WAS A NEIGHBOR TO THE MAN who fell into the hands of robbers?" The answer Jesus is going for is, "The Samaritan is my neighbor." Look at the Text: it's like the guy can't even bring himself to say "Samaritan" so he says, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." I think helping people who are in trouble is a great idea--a Biblical idea, even. But that is NOT what Jesus is talking about here! The question was, "Who is my neighbor? Who am I supposed to love?" The answer is, "The Samaritan" or to put the same idea differently, "my enemy." Here's the challenge for us. I'll put it like my teacher put it: Think of the person who you can't stand--the person who annoys you more than anyone else. Do you have someone in mind? Good. Jesus says, "Love that person."
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Luke 10--part 2
Who is my neighbor? Let's look at the context of the familiar quote from Leviticus: "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD." So the opinion of who exactly my neighbor is ran along the continuum. Some of the more conservative Pharisees and many of the Sadducees said, "Aha! So my neighbor must be one of 'my people.' That means my neighbor is someone who is like me--a fellow Jew for sure, probably a well-off Sadducee or Pharisee." On the other end of the continuum (liberal side, now), Pharisees argued my neighbor is everyone except for three groups of people: 1. Adulterers. 2. Idolaters. 3. Samaritans (Samaritans were seen by Judeans as 'half-blood' Jews from the days of the Northern Kingdom's exile. The quarrels between the old northern kingdom and Judah intensified and in Ezra and Nehemiah, they are told they have no share in the worship of God in Jerusalem. The Samaritans for their part believed that Mt. Gerazim was the mountain God actually intended for His worship to be carried out [based on their reading of Deuteronomy]. By Jesus' time, the relations were strained in the best places and downright hostile and lethal in the worst--remember what James and John wanted to do to the Samaritan village that wouldn't welcome them? Pilgrims from Galilee would typically cross the Jordan river just south of the Sea of Galilee to avoid Samaria and then cross it again at Jericho to go up to Jerusalem. Perhaps as early as Jesus' time, there was a saying that expressed how Jews felt about Samaritans: "Not even God can love a Samaritan.") But the feeling on who my neighbor was ran the gamut. It is in this context that Jesus tells the story, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho... (do you remember the pictures I showed you of the road?)" He's robbed, stripped, beaten, and left half-dead. Now this is technical language here, because it means he's unclean--in which case, certain people were not going to touch him because of how they 'ranked' the commandments (see previous post). The first guy Jesus sends past him is a priest (Sadducee) who passes by on the other side. The second guy Jesus sends past him is a Levite (also a Sadducee) and he too passes by on the other side. . Stop there a second. Why did they pass by? Was it just because they're mean? I don't think so. I think it was because of how they ordered the commandments. If "touch no unclean thing" comes before "love your neighbor" then no, you don't help him. And many priests saw it this way! I'm going to go out on a limb here, but stay with me and see what you think...I think the audience expected the next guy to be a Pharisee, because he had "love your neighbor" before "touch no unclean thing" and furthermore, this beaten, naked, and robbed man fits their definition of neighbor. I think the audience was probably laughing at this guy (maybe a Sadducee or stricter Pharisee) because they think Jesus is going to tell him off by sending a righteous Pharisee down the path to help this guy.
Then came an absolute BOMBSHELL! "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was..." I don't know if they were laughing before, but I bet you could have heard a pin drop after Jesus said "Samaritan." Jesus is totally changing the story from what they expected! I'm telling you this was shocking if not downright scandalous. And just to make sure they don't miss the part about "touch no unclean thing" being less important, the Samaritan undoes the harm done to the man: 1. Robbers went away leaving him (alone) half-dead--Samaritan took pity on him and went to him. 2. Robbers stripped him--Samaritan bandaged him 3. Robbers beat him--Samaritan poured on oil and wine 4. Robbers robbed him--Samaritan left money for his expenses with the innkeeper. Did you ever have a brother (or sister) try to annoy you by going, "touch-touch-touch-touch." Do you know what I mean? It's like Jesus is doing that here. If they weren't still in shock, the Pharisees in His audience might have found that funny, too. But that's not the point. Remember, the audience thought that it was going to be about which of the three people saw THE ROBBED MAN AS HIS NEIGHBOR. But instead, Jesus asks, "Which of these three do you think WAS A NEIGHBOR TO THE MAN who fell into the hands of robbers?" The answer Jesus is going for is, "The Samaritan is my neighbor." Look at the Text: it's like the guy can't even bring himself to say "Samaritan" so he says, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." I think helping people who are in trouble is a great idea--a Biblical idea, even. But that is NOT what Jesus is talking about here! The question was, "Who is my neighbor? Who am I supposed to love?" The answer is, "The Samaritan" or to put the same idea differently, "my enemy." Here's the challenge for us. I'll put it like my teacher put it: Think of the person who you can't stand--the person who annoys you more than anyone else. Do you have someone in mind? Good. Jesus says, "Love that person."
Then came an absolute BOMBSHELL! "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was..." I don't know if they were laughing before, but I bet you could have heard a pin drop after Jesus said "Samaritan." Jesus is totally changing the story from what they expected! I'm telling you this was shocking if not downright scandalous. And just to make sure they don't miss the part about "touch no unclean thing" being less important, the Samaritan undoes the harm done to the man: 1. Robbers went away leaving him (alone) half-dead--Samaritan took pity on him and went to him. 2. Robbers stripped him--Samaritan bandaged him 3. Robbers beat him--Samaritan poured on oil and wine 4. Robbers robbed him--Samaritan left money for his expenses with the innkeeper. Did you ever have a brother (or sister) try to annoy you by going, "touch-touch-touch-touch." Do you know what I mean? It's like Jesus is doing that here. If they weren't still in shock, the Pharisees in His audience might have found that funny, too. But that's not the point. Remember, the audience thought that it was going to be about which of the three people saw THE ROBBED MAN AS HIS NEIGHBOR. But instead, Jesus asks, "Which of these three do you think WAS A NEIGHBOR TO THE MAN who fell into the hands of robbers?" The answer Jesus is going for is, "The Samaritan is my neighbor." Look at the Text: it's like the guy can't even bring himself to say "Samaritan" so he says, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." I think helping people who are in trouble is a great idea--a Biblical idea, even. But that is NOT what Jesus is talking about here! The question was, "Who is my neighbor? Who am I supposed to love?" The answer is, "The Samaritan" or to put the same idea differently, "my enemy." Here's the challenge for us. I'll put it like my teacher put it: Think of the person who you can't stand--the person who annoys you more than anyone else. Do you have someone in mind? Good. Jesus says, "Love that person."
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