The gospel is a message of justice. It’s a judgement on oppressive systems and people and liberation for the oppressed. Jesus throughout His ministry constantly challenged the cultural biases and presuppositions of his day. He always called into question the racial prejudice many Jews held.
Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at a well know story. The Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37.
Read it quickly and it looks like a story about helping those who are in need. And yes, we could make it about that but Jesus is addressing a much bigger issue. He’s addressing a question, in which a lawyer asked how one receives eternal life.
Jesus, instead of answering the question directly, asks a question in return. To which the lawyer quotes both Deuteronomy and Leviticus that loving God and loving your neighbour are the most important things you can do, which leads to eternal life.
To which Jesus responds, “you have answered correctly…do this and you will live.”
It would seem like the conversation is over right? Man asks question, Jesus asks question about his question, to which the man responds, and Jesus said all good. End of the story, right?
But I love the turn it takes. The lawyer asks another question. Seeking clarification or in other words, he is looking for a loophole.
He asks, “who exactly is my neighbour.”
See he wants to narrow it down. Make it as easy as possible. So, in classic Jesus fashion he responds by telling a story and in doing so challenges everything this man holds too.
In this story we come across a couple of characters.
A beaten-up Jew, a Priest, a Levite and a Samaritan.
See firstly the Priest.
This guy is walking past, he sees a fellow Jew, and by law he is obliged to reach out and help him. Yet he sees a dilemma. If he approaches this man, who potentially could be dead and touches him, the priest would be declared ceremonially unclean. So, after deciding that ceremonial purity was more important he goes on his way. He put religious duty over social justice.
Secondly, we come across the Levite. Essentially this guy is an assistant to the priest. And he does the same thing, he probably knew the priest walked by this guy and thus had set the precedent. How could he, someone of lower status, upstage the priest. So, he walks along.
Now we come to the third character. So far, we’ve had a Priest and a Levite. Everyone listening would have been expecting a fellow Jew, maybe someone like the lawyer. In doing so Jesus could make the point that your neighbour is anyone you’re passing by who is in need.
Yet that’s not who comes along.
The person who comes along is a Samaritan.
This would have exploded in the face of the listeners. A Samaritan? How could it be? A hated and despised outsider. Impossible. These guys were like the worst of the worst, you know those people who just send shivers down your spine. Yet Jesus includes him and makes him the hero. In fact, in other places Jesus deliberately seeks out Samaritans. They are important and they matter.
See the Jews had a hatred with these guys that extended way back. There was a lot of hate and tension between these two groups that ran real deep.
This is the last character the lawyer or anyone listening would have expected.
A good Samaritan just doesn’t exist. It’s not possible. Yet that is what we find. The despised figure is the hero of the story. He does what none of the fellow Jews did. Those who were meant to be a neighbour failed to be one.
So, Jesus ends the story and asks the question to the lawyer.
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
He says, “the one who showed him mercy.”
He can’t even say his name.
The lawyer cannot even say the word Samaritan. That’s how deep the hatred is.
See that’s who your neighbour is.
In showing kindness to the one you hate, the one you despise, the one you wish didn’t exist, the one whose name you can’t even say.
See the lawyer asks who IS my neighbour? To which Jesus challenges him (and us) to ask to whom must I BECOME a neighbour?
Jesus is calling the man (and us) to love as God loves. Which means everybody. Even those you hate the most. Even those who are the most difficult to love. Even those you hate so much you can’t even say their name.
See in this story the religious and racial attitudes of the community are under attack. Jesus calls into question their deeply held hatred.
All throughout the gospels, we see that Jesus cared deeply about the social causes around him.
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, “Samaritan lives matter.”
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, “Children’s lives matter.”
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, “Gentile lives matter.”
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, “Jewish lives matter.”
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, “Women’s lives matter.”
Instead of saying all lives matter, Jesus said, “Lepers’ lives matter.”
Even though Jesus loves everyone, even to the point of dying for their sins, he went out of his way to intentionally help specific groups of people — the alienated, mistreated, and those facing injustice.
The God of the universe found in Scripture is someone who cares about justice, but not to bring retaliation for those who go against him, but to restore and make all things new.
WRITER: Joshua Stadnik – Intern Pastor at Dandenong and Wantirna Polish Church.