DEUTERNONMY 30:10-14
PSALM 69
COLOSSIANS 1:15-20
LUKE 10:25-37
My sisters and brothers in Christ.
Jesus is asked two questions today.
The first question is: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
The second question is: "And, who is my neighbor?"
There is a third question implied but not asked and it is:
"Who is my enemy?"
Take a moment to answer this question: "Who is my enemy?"
It could be
a person,
a family member,
a co worker,
a former boss,
a priest.
My enemy could be a group.
The scholar of the law today could have answered this question:
"Who is my enemy?" by saying" the "Samaritans."
By religious training, cultural conditioning, family teaching a Jewish scholar of the law understands, has no doubt that "the Samaritans" are his and our enemy.
Jesus' journey to Jerusalem (in Luke's Gospel) provides the background for Jesus to teach
his disciples,
the people and,
in today's Gospel, religious scholars of the law about what being a "follower of the way of Jesus" entails.
The "scholar of the law" today "tests" Jesus.
The "scholar of the law" knew the answer to his question about how to inherit eternal life before he asked it.
The scholar wants to know if Jesus is knowledgeable about the law.
The scholar wants to know if Jesus teaches "correctly."
Jesus replies by asking the scholar of the law how he "reads"?
Jesus has insulted his questioner, who is an expert, by implying that perhaps
he can't read,
he can't remember.
Perhaps the expert does not understand what he reads.
The scholar gives his answer which Jesus approves of. Jesus assures the scholar he can have eternal life.
The scholar has one more question about who is "my neighbor?"
The scholar is again testing Jesus since he knows that "neighbor" in the Book of Leviticus is "your people" or your "kin" or your "extended family."
Jesus gives the scholar an answer explaining just how "extended" his family is. Jesus has an idea of family that comes a great surprise to the scholar of the law.
The story of the Good Samaritan is very familiar to us.
There are aspects of the story that give us insight into just how new and different and inclusive Jesus' teaching about "who is my neighbor?" turns out to be.
One aspect of the story is the fact that the robbers "strip and leave their victim half dead."
This means the priest; Levite and Samaritan cannot determine the victim's ethnicity by accent or clothing.
Helping the victim is risky business.
Jews who touch an open wound or dead person would be defiled and need to return to the Temple for purification.
We can imagine the priest on his donkey (a sign of his elite status) being horrified at the thought of having to go back to the Temple where he had been performing sacred rituals. He would return in shame to ask to be purified.
The Levite may follow the priest's lead. To assist someone the priest ignored might be an insult to the priest.
The Levite passes the man by.
The Samaritan is the first to feel mercy or compassion.
The Samaritan runs a great risk.
If the victim is Jewish the Samaritan makes the victim impure because of the "Samaritan" wine and bandages.
The Samaritan does what the priest and Levite and robbers did not do.
The Samaritan cares for the victim and even offers to pay for additional care.
The scholar of the law finds that his "neighbor" is not just his immediate family, his Jewish relatives or even all other Jews.
The scholar finds that he must become neighbor to anyone who is in need.
The scholar's neighbor even includes his enemies.
"Who is your neighbor?"
Does "your neighbor" really include your enemies,
the people who are different from you,
the people who do not speak "your language",
the people who are of a different ethnic group,
the people who do not agree with your politics,
the people who don't belong to the "right" church?
Jesus really does offer "new" life and "eternal" life.
Embracing new and eternal life means embracing with compassion and mercy even those we consider our enemies.
That person or group we thought about at the beginning of this homily is your, my, our "neighbor."
