Let us reason together.

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight .He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:25-37.

“what must I do to inherit eternal life?” That is our question as well, maybe our most important question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? That question is raised several times in scripture and we should pay special attention whenever it appears. Therefore, let us reason together.

The gospel says that an attorney with an attitude stood up to test him. That is never a good idea. But Jesus uses the opportunity to teach a lesson. He reads the man’s heart and says to the man you already know the answer. The Lawyer quotes Deuteronomy where Moses summarizes the Ten Commandments. But Jesus adds something that has been missing from the law since shortly after Moses himself. He adds love. The first of the commandments show us how to love God and the later ones show us how to love one another.

The emphasis is as it was originally been designed; it is now on love. In fact he ties love of God and love of neighbor together. To you and me it means that not only must we love that person that we share the sign of peace but also with that person who cuts us off in the parking lot in order to beat us to dinner.

But it gets even worse. The keeper of the law then goes on to ask who constitutes his neighbor causing Jesus to tell us a parable in which the heroine is a Samaritan. Therefore, we should seek to understand who a Samaritan is at least in relation to the Jews.

A short summary of Jewish history would start with the Promised Land around 1250 BC. King Saul is followed by King David who is followed by King Solomon. King Solomon dies approximately 930 BC. His son promises to raise the already heavy tax burden which causes a rebellion which divides the 12 tribes. The northern tribes will from there be known as Israel while the lower tribe will be called the Jews. The northern tribes include a region known as Samaria. In 722 BC the Assyrians will capture the area and deport the men and then bring other conquered peoples into the land to marry the women left behind. This produced and mixed race of people and religious confusion.

This impure blood line together with a mixture of faith caused hatred between the two groups. This hatred at the time of Jesus was more than 700 years old. The lawyer had such a hatred that he would not even say that the Samaritan was a good guy. He simply said that it was the one who was merciful.

You and I cannot even comprehend hating some one that long as we have not even been a country for more than a few hundred years. But the message of the gospel is that we must love that person that we could hate the most.

There is a second lesson. I would like to decode some of the story and then let you see if you can determine the second lesson yourself. First, with most parable stories it should be noted that one of the characters is that of Jesus and one of the characters is you and I. lets first determine who Jesus is. How many of you would think that Jesus is the Good Samaritan. You would be correct of course. However, there is another possibility. Anyone wish to guess. The man who was abused is described as having been “beaten, stripped and left for dead. That describes Jesus during the passion. We should remember that he was both the sacrifice and the one offering the sacrifice. We should note that no one would think that the robbers are identified as God. We know that God is not the author of evil even though he sometimes permits evil to happen to us so that he can turn it into a blessing.

Next we see that the Samaritan washes the man’s wounds with water and oil and wine. What does that remind you of? Think about that one. What does that remind you of? Those are the elements of the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. These represent the sacraments of initiation where we enter the church.

Next we find that the victim is taken to and Inn. What does this represent? Why do we need a hotel in the Old Testament time? People traveled in caravans or large groups with their own bedding.

In order to understand what an Inn was we need to understand that our system of law enforcement is different today that it was then. A person who resided in Jerusalem was protected by the laws and security of the city of Jerusalem. Travelers would occasionally stay at an inn because it provided security for them and their flocks. They would pay for such services. We would call these as a house of sanctuary. Actually you are more familiar with this than you realize. While I am no linguist I am told that the word for sanctuary in either Greek or Latin is “parish”. Here we have another clue.

At the beginning I told you that one of the characters of the story represents you and me. Well I am going to shorten this by telling you that you and I are the inn keeper..

Do you see a theme that has significance to you and me?

Let us reason together. Jesus tells us first he washed him in the sacraments of water, oil and wine. Then he took his to the parish and told the inn keeper to take care of him and that some day he would return and make things right with the inn keeper. Further, he says that someday he will return to settle accounts.

If Jesus sends people in need to the Church what are we supposed to do with them? Administer the sacraments and then love on them. Love them to physical and spiritual health; care for one another, even the ones that we may be inclined to hate.