Being a Good Neighbor to All Through our Philosophy of Giving (cf. Luke 10:25-37)

A parable may be defined as a story with a hidden meaning or point. We may also refer to it as “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” Oftentimes, in the New Testament, Jesus uses a common or familiar story to answer a question or to convey an important message. In the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, the robbers, the religious leaders (the priest and the Levite), and the Good Samaritan are the key characters. Jesus shares the parable as a reply to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" (v. 29).

The actions of the characters in the Good Samaritan's story teach us three key philosophies of life, namely the attitude of the takers, the keepers, and the givers. The robbers beat up the man because they consider what the man has as theirs and so, by force, they take them from him. Likewise, the religious leaders pass him up because they are the keepers in the sense that they prefer to keep their resources to themselves rather than provide a solution to the matter. However, the attitude or philosophy of giving that the Good Samaritan exemplifies contrasts with the philosophies of taking and keeping that the robbers and religious leaders in the story demonstrate respectively.  

Typically, during the time of Jesus, Jews and Samaritans did not get along and so the Samaritan because of his gesture of love to someone of another race would be viewed as the “bad guy.” However, what he does in response to the needs of his neighbor defies the odds. Even though he does not know the man who falls among the thieves is not someone of the same race, he recognizes that he is someone in need of help. Unlike the priest and the Levite who pass the man up, the Samaritan reaches out and helps this man that the robbers beat up and left him for dead. The Good Samaritan's attitude of sharing shines. No wonder, he stops and attends to the man even to the point of incurring a personal expense.  

By his actions, the Samaritan knows how to treat his neighbor. The point of the story is not determining who our neighbor is, but being a good neighbor to all. Not only do this Samaritan’s actions earn him the adjective, "good," to his ethnic name, they also set him apart as a good example for us to emulate in our relationships with others.

At the close of the Good Samaritan’s story, Jesus asks the lawyer to identify the one who was a neighbor to the man who fell among the thieves and he rightly does it in his reply: “He who showed mercy on him” (v. 37). Furthermore, Jesus challenges the expert in the law with these words: "Go and do likewise” (v. 37). In other words, he is to go and show mercy to others in need of mercy whether they were Jewish or non-Jewish. From this challenge, we learn that our neighbor is anyone in need of our help regardless of their ethnic, religious, social or economic background.