A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture/XLII. The Doctor of the Law — The Good Samaritan

by Friedrich Justus Knecht

Chapter XLII.

THE DOCTOR OF THE LAW.— THE GOOD SAMARITAN.

[Luke to, 25 — 37. Mat. 22, 35 — 40. Mark 12, 28 — 34.]

Again, when Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He met a doctor of the law^[1], who, hoping to tempt^[2] our Lord, asked him, through curiosity: “Master, what must I do to possess eternal life?” Jesus answered: “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” He replied: “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.”

Jesus said to Him: “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.”^[3] But the doctor, wishing to justify^[4] himself, said: “Who is my neighbour?”

Then Jesus replied with the Parable of the Good Samaritan:

“A certain man^[5] went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers ^[6], who also stripped him; and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half-dead^[7]. Now it happened that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing him passed by. In like manner also a Levite^[8], 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^[9] up to him, he bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and setting him upon his own beast^[10], brought him to an inn and took care of him.

Fig. 80. Road from Jerusalem to Jericho. (Phot. P. Dunkel.)

“The next day he took out two pence^[11], and gave them to the innkeeper, and said: ‘Take care of him, and whatever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee.’” Having finished the parable^[12], Jesus asked the doctor: “Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers?” The doctor of the law replied: “He that showed mercy to him.” Jesus said to him: “Go, and do thou in like manner.” ^[13]

COMMENTARY.

Love of our neighbour. He who hopes to be saved must love God with all his heart, and his neighbour as himself. Of the love of God we shall speak in the next chapter: this chapter deals principally with the love of our neighbour, the qualities of which our Lord shows us in His beautiful parable of the Good Samaritan.

The love shown by the Samaritan was, first of all, real, for he felt compassion from his heart for the wounded man, and had a real sympathy with him in his misfortunes. He stopped instantly when he perceived the poor man, and went up to him, whereas the priest and the Levite had both passed by regardless of his state. And because his love was real, it was practical. He washed to help the poor man, and did all in his power to alleviate his sufferings and save his life; he interrupted his journey, tended the wounded man himself all that day, and when his business called him away for a few days, he left him in charge of the innkeeper, paying for his keep, and promising to return. Lastly, the love he showed was universal. He knew that the wounded man was a Jew, the enemy of his people; and he knew that under similar circumstances a Jew would be very unlikely to assist him. All the same he took pity on him, and forgave the enmity shown to the Samaritans by the Jews. In this poor man he saw only a suffering fellow-creature and a brother, and helped him as such.

By this parable, therefore, our Lord teaches us that every man is our neighbour, and that our love ought to be real, practical and universal.

The deeper meaning of the parable. According to the Fathers of the Church the following deeper interpretation can be given to it. Jesus Himself is the Good Samaritan, as proved by His treatment of the robbed and wounded human race. Sin and the devil are the robbers who have despoiled man of his robe of innocence and all supernatural gifts, and grievously wounded him in his natural gifts. Thus man lay, weak, helpless, and half-dead. He still, it is true, possessed his natural life, but he had lost the supernatural life of grace, as well as the prospect of eternal life, and was powerless to raise himself from the misery of sin by any effort of his own. Neither priest nor Levite, i. e. neither sacrifice nor law of the Old Covenant, could help him, or heal his wounds; they only made him realize more fully his helpless condition. Then the Son of God, moved by compassion, came down from heaven to help poor fallen man, living at enmity with God. He healed his wounds with the wine of His Most Precious Blood and the oil of His grace, and took him to the inn, His Church. When He left this earth to return to heaven, He gave to the guardians of His Church the twofold treasure of His doctrine and His grace, and ordered them to tend the still weak man, until He Himself came back to reward every one according to his works. This inconceivable love of the Incarnate Son of God for all men is the great reason why we ought to love our neighbour and even our enemy.

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Application. In the case of the priest and the Levite you can see what a hateful thing is want of compassion. On the other hand, the example of the Samaritan shows you how noble and beautiful is a heart full of pity and a desire to help those in need. Now which heart is yours most like? that of the priest or that of the Samaritan? Do you feel pity for others in their misfortunes? Do you not sometimes feel a wicked joy when evil befalls any one? Do you help the sick or poor as far as you are able? Surely, even if you can give them nothing, you could visit them, show them your sympathy, and pray for them.

1. The doctors of the law, or scribes, were a body of men whose profession it was to preserve the written law, interpret it, and guard it from being falsified.
2. Tempt. He hoped to entrap our Lord into teaching some doctrine contrary to the law, or at any rate contrary to its received interpretation. Had he done so, the scribes would have been able to hold Him up as an enemy of the law.
3. Thou shalt live. Or obtain eternal life.
4. To justify. Our Lord told him to love his neighbour as himself. “This do, and thou shalt live.” The doctor evidently felt in his own heart that he had not properly and fully practised this command, and therefore he wished to justify himself by saying that it was a disputed point among the Jews as to who was their neighbour.
5. A certain man. Namely a Jew from Jerusalem.
6. Robbers. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho (Fig. 8o; see Map) is a very deserted one, and passes through deep defiles which, to this day, are infested by robbers.
7. Half dead. They surrounded him, took from him all that he had, even his clothes, and because he offered resistance, wounded him so severely that he lay half-dead. He could not stir, and unless help came he must soon die.
8. A priest and a Levite. A Jewish priest, followed by his assistant, a Levite (Old Test. XXXIX). These two were returning from Jerusalem, where they had accomplished the time assigned to them for serving in the Temple, and were now on their way back to Jericho, of which town they were inhabitants. The poor despoiled man lay on the road, the blood pouring from his many wounds. He had become so weak that he could not even cry out for help; but when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, which told him that help was at hand, hope revived in his heart. The priest heard the poor man's groans, and saw his bleeding condition, but he who was but just returning from the service of the merciful God had no compassion for this poor, dying man, and went on his way. The Levite too, in his turn, passed by, unmoved. Both of them knew and preached the divine law: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’, but neither of them practised what they taught, or showed love towards their fellow-countryman and fellow' believer. The poor, wounded man had well-nigh given up all hope, when the Good Samaritan rode up.
9. Going. He was not content with a mere show of compassion, but immediately did all he could to relieve the poor man. He applied the remedies usual in those days for stopping the bleeding and preventing the wounds from festering.
10. Beast. His mule.
11. Two pence. This was sufficient for his keep for two days.
12. The parable. Our Lord had conveyed his teaching in the form of a narrative, so as to compel the scribe to answer his own question for himself.
13. In like manner. Show compassion to all who need it.