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Westwend -
You're absolutely right. This is a parable on loving your neighbor as yourself as part of the requirements to enter "God's" spiritual realm. But I think I see it as a bit more than just that. See my post later today.
posted by
sannhet
on November 19, 2004 at 6:38 AM
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Pappy -
An excellent point. The parable does show the need for acting based on one's faith.
posted by
sannhet
on November 19, 2004 at 6:36 AM
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JackiO -
You're right. There is a certain amount of "freeing of the minds" in this parable. But I see a little more. See today's post.
posted by
sannhet
on November 19, 2004 at 6:34 AM
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this is a question to answer a question
it was on the temple grounds, just after the scourging and turning over the moneychangers tables and various of the priest faction sent people to test Yeshua with questions.
one of the scribes (interpreters of the law was there) asked What is the Great Commandment.
Yeshua answerd, Love God with all thy heart, etc.; then said the second is equal -- "Love thy neighbor as thyself."
Then the scribe asked, "Who is my neighbor."
Then Yeshua told the story you have asked about.
You have a Levite and a priest going over to the other side of the road. They weren't being "evil" -- they were observing the Law, which says that you'd be unclean if you were to touch someone like this and you';d have to undergo vigrous cleansing and isolation rituals before you could rejoin the congregation. They preferred avoiding the cleansing to helping a fellow Jew.
Samaritans, if you recall, were outcast in Jewish society. Lowest of the Low. We are told that Samaritans were strangers -- gentiles, if you will -- relocated to the area of the Northern Ten Tribes by Assyria after the conquest (although the Samaritan religion is similar to Judaism).
So it was one of those outcasts -- almost an enemy of the Jews -- that "had mercy on the man".
After he had told the story, Yeshua then asked the scribe, "Who was this man's neighbor?"
The scribe replied, "He that had mercy on the man."
Yeshua then told the scribe "You aren't far from spiritual realms. Go and do likewise.
My neighbor is my enemy. My enemy is my neighbor. I must love my neighbor as myself.
posted by
Xeno-x
on November 19, 2004 at 6:29 AM
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sannhet
Jackie is probably right from a historical allegory perspective. The lesson was all the more pointed when you consider that the Samaritans were considered unclean at the time. The parable also points to what James said about faith without works being dead: 'A good man can say, you have faith and I have works: show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe there is one god, and you do well; but the devils also believe, and they tremble." It shows how little faith is worth if it doesn't change the way a person acts.
posted by
pappy
on November 18, 2004 at 3:51 PM
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Jesus, in this parable, is freeing the minds of the people who were
under the belief that the Pharasees were the righteous favored of God ( which they were not) and therefore had the right to impose and condemn the people. Jesus was removing their credentials. In other words the hypocrisy of religous pride was being exposed in order to introduce and bring about the true Kingdom ( system) of Heaven into the minds of the people, so that they could be free ( from condemnation) and able to accept the true teachings of God which are Life and that more abundantly.
posted by
calmcantey75
on November 18, 2004 at 2:57 PM
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