The Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 10, 2022

Luke 10, 25–37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan fascinates after two millennia: the odd  characters, the strange and dramatic actions, and the inescapable conclusion.  The Parable can be employed to teach about the Sacraments,  Divine Providence, moral theology, and the end of the world.  It reveals to us attitudes and assumptions of a time long gone by and mysterious even though we hear and read about it regularly.  The reason for the Lord’s telling this Parable also makes us wonder.  “There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him.”  This scholar of the Mosaic Law starts off with the intention of learning something about the Lord’s teachings on the Law.  Various schools, including the Pharisees and John the Baptist and his followers, had arisen, placing different emphases on certain aspects of the Law.  This scholar went right to the heart of the question of what the Lord taught: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  The question is formed very succinctly, allowing Jesus to answer in a variety of ways, revealing what is most important to him.  The Lord’s reply, however, puts the spotlight back on the scholar: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”  Now the scholar must reveal his emphases in teaching the Law.  He is put on the defensive and falls back on the two great Commandments “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  The Lord simply affirms this, and in so doing puts the scholar in an awkward position: if he already knew the answer, why did he ask the question?  This answer is also an obvious one and so it is not clear to anyone witnessing the scene what the scholar intended to do.  

The scholar, however, now decides that he wants the Lord’s approbation for his righteousness.  This is puzzling.  One moment he wished to stand in the position of granting approbation to the Lord, and now he seeks it from him: “He wished to justify himself.”  That is, he wished to display himself as righteous and approved by this teacher from Galilee.  This could be the effect of the Lord’s powerful personality or by some weakness or lack of confidence in the scholar himself.  Did he know himself not to be righteous?  Perhaps after reciting the two great Commandments his gaze met the Lord’s steady, knowing eyes and he knew that the Lord knew.  Still, he had to ask: “And who is my neighbor?”  He was banking that the Lord would answer that his neighbor was his fellow Jew, or a member of his family or someone who lived near him.  The answer the Lord gave him left him shaken.  Then the Lord’s urging him to obey the Commandment which he  had already acknowledged left him wondering who this man from Galilee was.