October 1, 2012 AD
The Rest of
the story of
"The Good Samaritan"
The Parable of
The Good Samaritan
A certain lawyer answering Christ's question, said:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart,
and with thy whole soul,
and with all thy strength,
and with all thy mind:
and thy neighbour as thyself."
And Christ said to him:
"Thou hast answered right: do this, and thou shalt live."
But he willing to justify himself, said to Jesus:
"And who is my neighbour?"
And Jesus answering, said:
"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him went away, leaving him half dead.
And it chanced, that a certain priest went down the same way: and seeing him, passed by.
In like manner also a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by.
But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him; and seeing him, was moved with compassion. And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: Take care of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee.
Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers?"
But the lawyer said:
"He that showed mercy to him."
And Jesus said to him:
"Go, and do thou in like manner."
--Luke 10:27-38
The problem far too many people have reading the Bible is that they only read half the story.
Case in point -- The Parable of the Good Samaritan
Many get straight to the punch line and simply say -- "Be a Good Samaritan and help others".
Many more learned scholars of the Bible may even add that the definition of a neighbor is anyone in need, regardless of being Samaritan or Jew or anyone else. We should love all mankind and treat all mankind as we would want to be treated.
And this is where 99% of people stop their Bible lessons.
Then they start throwing "The Good Samaritan" story around as if they know what they are talking about.
Which no doubt, in 99% of the times it's used, is absolutely correct.
Where they error is when they start talking Jewish and Christian issues together.
For they keep missing a key, critical part of the Parable which Christ gave us.
Why did Christ mention the priest and the Levite?
And let me get ahead of myself here a bit...
Christ does indeed say I have to be a Good Samaritan to all, in order to be a good Christian. I need to treat everyone as my neighbor, but what is interesting is that Christ is also telling you exactly who will not be a Good Samaritan -- to you. Who will not be a good neighbor -- to you -- in your time of need.
And he thus makes a very profound point.
Are Jews good neighbors?
Christ could have said that a rich man passed the man in need, because he was only thinking of his money and he was too afraid of a trap to steal his money.
But Christ did not say you cannot count on a rich man to help you when in need.
Christ could have said that a Roman tax-collector passed the man in need.
But Christ did not say that you could not count on a pagan government to help you.
Christ could have said that a Jewish nobleman passed the man in need.
But Christ did not say that you could not count on your own local government to help you.
We can go on and on with this to cover sodomites, blacks, women, Greeks, Persians, tall people, short people, you name it.
In none of these does Jesus make a statement about who will mistreat you as a neighbor.
No, but he does give two very interesting examples.
The two examples Christ used were
the most sacred,
the most revered,
the most moral, and
the most righteous Jews
Christ could possibly talk about.
Christ said that a moral and righteous Jewish priest would not help an unclean stranger.
Christ said that a Levite from
the 1 MOST Chosen Tribe of
the 12 Chosen Tribes would not help an unclean stranger.
The only conclusion one can draw from this is that Christ was telling future Christians that they should not, could not, count on the morality and righteousness of even the most moral and the most righteous of unbelieving Jews to help a stranger in need.
Christ was telling his followers that unbelieving Jews will never look upon Christians as their neighbors.
Christ was telling his followers that unbelieving Jews will never give aid to others as would a Good Samaritan.
To Christ, the Samaritan represented a lowly Christian, despised by unbelieving Jews, extending Christian charity to even an unclean stranger in need, while both the best Jew of the regular Chosen People represented by the priest, and the best of the best Jews of the Extra-Chosen people represented by the Levite, were both heartless and cruel toward the stranger.
The moral of the story? : There is a purpose and reason for the full Biblical story.
This is indeed a Christian message of "Love your neighbor", as most get, but Jesus is also pointing out that even the best Jews are loathe to do the same, as unbelieving Jews love only themselves and will not humble themselves to follow Christ and behave in a Christian manner, as even a Good Samaritan instinctively knows to do.
Interpreting the Bible
Much has been said about people's mis-interpretation of the Bible. There would not be 30,000 Christian denominations if honest people all read their Bibles the same.
But leaving half the story Christ give us on the cutting room floor is not an honest mis-interpretation, it is a fraud.
It is a lie of Biblical proportions.
It is Satanic.
SOURCE:
Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible
Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible
Article located at:
http://www.thechristiansolution.com/doc2012/555_GoodSamaritan.html
