Theology of a Brokenman
Luke 10:31a
By chance a priest was going down that road.
One of the points that it is easy for us to miss in this story is the direction in which the priest and temple official are moving in. They are going down the road, not up the road. Jerusalem is the higher point; the road goes steeply down hill.
Why might the direction of travel of the priest and temple official be significant?
By telling us that they are travelling away from Jerusalem we know that they are not on their way to serve in the temple – if they were and contracted ritual impurity they would not be able to serve as they would have to wait seven days to cleanse themselves. Some of those listening may have sympathised with someone not wanting to risk coming into contact with a dead (or possibly soon to be dead) body if they where about to serve in the temple.
Luke 10:31b-32
But when he saw the man, he went by on the other side. In the same way a Levite came along. When he saw the man, he also went by on the other side.
FAMILY TREE
The two people identified in verses 31 and 32 are a Kohen (priest) and a Levite. Kohens and Levites are decedents of Levi (Genesis 46.8-11), however the priest is also a descendent of Aaron the first priest.
DEAD BODIES
Dead bodies are a source of ritual impurity to anyone who comes in contact with them, however, Leviticus 21:1-4 and Ezekiel 24:25 specifically forbids priest from defiling themselves by coming into contact with dead bodies other than their immediate family,[1] the High priest is forbidden to “defile” himself even for a member of his immediate family (Leviticus 21:11).
Despite the destruction of the temple, some Kohens[2] still adhere to this commandment, attending only the funerals of their closest family members.[3]
While the Hebrew Bible stated that ritual impurity would be contracted by touching a dead body or entering the same tent (interpreted within Judaism to refer to all areas with a common covering) as the body, the Rabbinic Sages added the requirement of not entering a four cubit (approximately 6.5 feet) perimeter of a body or grave.[4] The story which Jesus tells describes the Priest and the Levite crossing the road so that they can make sure that they don’t come within the “impurity” zone.
WHO SHOULD BURY?
Rabbis of Jesus day had ruled that such was the disgrace of a Jewish body laying dead with no one to bury it (referred to as a meis mitzvah), that if a Jew found this body, and was the only person available to tend to it, then they must do so, this ruling included the High Priest, Priests, and Nazarites, all of whom where normally forbidden from contact with a corpse. This ruling essentially believed that love for a fellow Jew, and not wanting to see them humiliated even in death, should take precedence over the requirement to avoid ritual impurity. This subject was debated in some depth, with a discussion recorded in the Talmud about what should happen if the High priest, a priest, and a Nazarite find a dead body, which of them should contract ritual impurity?
Against this background Jesus describing two Levites who chose to put their personal ritual purity in front of care for a dying person is a particularly strong illustration of unloving behaviour. The theologian has already said that loving your neighbour is one of the two most important laws, now Jesus is effectively asking him how he is actually applying that belief. Which is more important: preserving personal ritual purity, and following the letter of the law, or caring for and preventing the disgrace of someone else?
Luke 10:33a
Then a foreigner from Samaria travelling along that road happened upon the man…
We are so used to hearing this story, and so unfamiliar with Samaritans that we lose the surprise element of this story.
Stories of the time, as today, often worked by comparing sets of three. What other stories biblical or otherwise use this format?
Jesus’s hearers would have been expecting a third person to come along the road, they would have known the story was not finished, who would they expect the next figure in the story to be?
If I was listening to the story I would expect the next person in the story to be a Jewish layman. If this story was being told today it would be like saying, a Vicar came down the road, and then a Deacon came down the road, the next person on the list that I would expect would be a member of the congregation, but instead of introducing a layman Jesus introduce into the story a Samaritan
SAMARITAN?
The Samaritans lived in an area south of Galilee and north of Judea, part of the old Northern Kingdom of Israel. In 721 BC Israel was conquered by Assyria, and Sargon II conducted a mass deportation of the entire region, carrying off some 27,270 captives and resettling the area with colonists from other parts of the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 17:24).Their descendents were looked upon as half-breeds and heretics by the Jews of Jerusalem. Though Samaritans believed in the Torah, they differed on a number of theological points, and worshipped at Mt. Gerizim rather than Jerusalem (John 4:20-22), At times, relations between the Jews and Samaritans had been civil, but in Jesus's day feelings were definitely hostile. Sometime between 6 and 9 AD at midnight during a Passover some Samaritans had deliberately scattered bones in the Jerusalem Temple in order to desecrate it.[5] The Jews were outraged. What remained now was disdain and hatred, as John observed: "Jews do not associate with Samaritans" (John 4:9b).
WHY SAMARITANS?
Jesus may have used a Samaritan within the story because it’s a group that lots of his listeners wouldn’t have liked. It is possible however, that Jesus selected the Samaritan as his lead character because this was a group that the theologian had a particular problem with. The Samaritans, while sharing a Jewish heritage, had a different understand of much of the Hebrew Bible from the rest of the Jews; among other things they rejected the “oral law”, the very thing that the theologian had spent his life studying! This is likely to be the group of people that the theologian struggled to love more than any other group.
Luke 10:33b
…and when he saw him, he was filled with compassion.
The immediate response of the Priest and Levite seeing the man was to think of their ritual purity, and to move away from the man. The immediate response of the Samaritan was to feel GREEK: σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai). This word refers to being moved “as to one’s bowels” the bowls were thought of as being the origin of love and pity, in much the same we that we might talk about something touching our heart. This is the same word that is used to describe Jesus’ response to people in Mark 6:34 who he describes as being sheep without a Sheppard, and in Mark 1:41 it’s the word used to describe Jesus responses to a leper. It’s a word that conveys a deep inward response that results in action.
Luke 10:34-35
He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. He put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next morning he paid the innkeeper and said, "Take care of this man, and if it costs more than this, I will pay you when I return."
The Samaritan’s emotional response resulted in practical actions. These actions where not without cost, they delayed his journey, they caused him personal inconvenience, we are told that the Samaritan put bandaged the injured mans wounds. Unless he happened to be carrying bandages this probably meant that he tore strips of his own clothes to bind up the mans wounds. The Samaritan put the injured man on his donkey, meaning that he had to walk, and at the’ inn he paid for his care.
READ 1 John 3:17-18 "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth"
Luke 10:36-37
Then Jesus asked, "Which one of these three people do you think acted like a neighbour to the man who was attacked by the gang of robbers?" The expert answered, "The one who acted with mercy."
Instead of answering the theologian’s question about who his neighbour is, Jesus left him to answer the question himself. When asked which of the people acted as a neighbour, the theologian does not answer “the Samaritan” he answers the one who showed GREEK ἔλεος (eleos). The word Eleos means mercy, kindness or good towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them. [6]
There are two ways we can view his answer, it is possible that his hatred of Samaritans was so deep, that even with a fictional Samaritan he could not bear to say that this was the person who acted as a neighbour; he couldn’t bear to name him.
The other possibility which I prefer, is that the theologian understood that the important point wasn’t who it was that showed eleos, but that showing eleos is the key characteristic of being a neighbour.
Luke 10:37b
Then Jesus said to him, "You go and do the same."
This takes us right back to the start of the conversation. This man knows how he should be living his life. We know how we should be living our lives. We know that we should be living lives full of compassion, lives that put the needs of others first. Jesus never defines the term ‘neighbour’ for us. If he had we would have found a way of reducing its meaning. Instead Jesus leaves us with the same statement that he left the theologian with. There is a big difference between knowing what the right thing to do is and doing it. Jesus calls us to lives of action not just theories.
Now go and do it!
[1] rabbinical teaching made this compulsory, ie a Priest other than the high priest must attend his immediate families funerals
[2] Members of the priestly tribe of Israel.
[3] Gillman, Neil. 2001 Jewish News of Greater Phoenix: “Dignity of deceased prevails over laws” May 11, 2001/Iyar 18, 5761, Vol. 53, No.32
[4] Rabbi Naftai Siberberg http://www.askmoses.com/article.html?html?h=665&o=2065637
[5] Wilson, R.F. (2007) Jesus Walk Disciple Lessons from Luke’s Gospel available from http://www.jesuswalk.com/ebooks/luke.htm
[6] Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for eleos (Strong's 1656)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2007. 11 Jul 2007. <>
Strongs=G1656&Version=kjv >
