07 May 2024
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is found in Luke 10:25-37. There are two dialogues; the first is the context. The lawyer asks a question; Jesus asks His own. The lawyer answers and then Jesus does. The lawyer asks a follow-up question. Again, Jesus poses His own question in the context of a parable, to which the lawyer answers guardedly. Jesus ends with a broad command. His final response answers the original question of inheriting eternal life.
Of course, we know that the lawyer was only pretending, role-playing the respectful student querying the rabbi. He was trying to trap Jesus in something that would justify trying to censor Him. Indeed, the lawyer knows one does not act to gain an inheritance; it is a birthright. Jesus plays along on that point.
Bailey doesn't tell you that this whole exchange was quite common in those days among rabbis and those who monitored them, like Scribes and the Sanhedrin. This kind of mildly predatory rhetoric was taken for granted in such company; it's a critical element in the Talmud. Who is the smartest? It's more a question of who can be the snarky smart-aleck. To this day rabbis teach that God respects that kind of semantic gotcha game.
The lawyer's answer to Jesus was a common one; Jesus didn't invent it. The famous Hillel said something similar. However, Jesus did cite the principle of "these two commandments" several times (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31). Lots of rabbis were having this conversation in light of the Messianic expectations that were so popular among Jews. The underlying theme is asking how one can qualify for entrance into the Messianic Kingdom.
Bailey does notice that putting love for God first is actually an impossible task without divine grace. But the lawyer slides right on past it. Rather, he wanted to pick over the issue of his duty among humans. Who is his "neighbor"? Bailey doesn't mention the traditional answer and why it matters here. Rabbis, Scribes, Pharisees, etc., regarded themselves above the common Jewish people, who were "accursed". The elite holy men had long since ceased thinking of peasants as their "neighbors", but the Law of Moses said every Israeli was your neighbor, your extended family.
Bailey does get around to spelling out that the same context of "love your neighbor" (Leviticus 19) gets around to saying that Israel must treat alien allies among them as neighbors. God makes this point based on how Israel was once an alien nation in Egypt, and He insists they not act the way the Pharaoh of Exodus did. The lawyer apparently wanted to forget that part, though he surely knew it.
The actual parable itself is the rest of the chapter, and we'll look at that tomorrow.
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