Parables of Jesus

The Good Samaritan
Love and Forgiveness

 Read: Luke 10:25-37  

The parable of the Good Samaritan is about a Jewish traveler who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. A Jewish priest and then a Levite come by, both avoiding the man. A Samaritan happens upon him, and though Samaritans and Jews were antagonistic toward each other, he helps the wounded man. Jesus tells the parable in response to a provocative question from a lawyer in the context of the Great Commandment: "And who is my neighbor?" 

Some Christians, such as Augustine, have interpreted the parable allegorically, with the Samaritan representing Jesus Christ, who saves the sinful soul. However, others see the parable as exemplifying the ethics of Jesus.

In the time of Jesus, the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notorious for its danger and difficulty, and was known as the "Way of Blood" because the many robbers along the way. Jesus' target audience of the Jews, hated Samaritans, and the Samaritans, reciprocally, hated the Jews. As the story was told to those who were unaware of these enmities, many came to see "Samaritan" as merely a convenient name for that individual, instead of a hated outsider who worshipped falsely and desecrated the true religion.

Origen described this as allegory:

"The man who was going down is Adam. Jerusalem is paradise, and Jericho is the world. The robbers are hostile powers. The priest is the Law, the Levite is the prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. The wounds are disobedience, the beast is the Lord's body, the inn, which accepts all who wish to enter, is the Church. The manager of the inn is the head of the Church, to whom its care has been entrusted. And the fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Savior's second coming".

John Calvin disagreed with Origen's allegorical reading, stating that "compassion, which an enemy showed to a Jew, demonstrates that the guidance and teaching of nature are sufficient to show that man was created for the sake of man. Hence it is inferred that there is a mutual obligation between all men."

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