What the heck is a Samaritan, let alone a "Good Samaritan"? We hear the term used frequently when discussing the Good Samaritan laws that protect first aiders who have stopped to provide care for a fellow human being in need, but many people don't know where the term came from or what it actually means. Grab yourself a warm beverage and prop up your feet for a history lesson, because when you know the context of the Good Samaritan story not only will your eyes be opened to the depth of the concept, but you will also have learned the trick, the foundational principle, that will help you to meet the requirements of the local Good Samaritan laws, no matter where in the world you travel.The story of the Good Samaritan is recorded in the bible (the book of Luke, chapter 10, verses 25-37) and was told by Jesus. When Jesus walked from town to town he was followed incessantly by large crowds of people. These crowds were generally made up of two groups of people. The first group was made up of people who wanted to know Jesus, spend time with him, be near him, learn from him, be healed by him, and have their children blessed by him. The second group was made of up of individuals known as pharasees, saducees, and teachers of the law. These indivdiduals followed Jesus primarily to look for opportunities to humilliate him in public and make him look stupid or show he was a fake. The people who were following Jesus had once gone to the pharisees, saducees and teachers of the law for insight and now they were following Jesus. The religious leaders of the community weren't happy because they'd lost their posse of adoring fans and wanted them back! So they would pick at Jesus, asking him questions to try and expose a weakness that would make the people abandon him.
One day while Jesus was speaking to the crowd an expert in the religious laws and traditions asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asked him how he understood the scriptures, or in other words, what is your understanding of what God has to say on the matter? The expert replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself". Jesus replied, "Do this and you will live."
You can just imagine all the other pharisees, sadducees and teachers of the law slowly turning their heads in this gentleman's direction with their mouths hanging open looking at him like he was an idiot. Dude. That was your question? The reason it would have been so strange for him to ask that is because as an expert in the law, someone who had the religious texts memorized, he should have known that one! The text says that the expert in the law felt the need to justify himself and so he shot out another question, "Who is my neighbor?" Instead of pointing to someone in the crowd and saying, "They are your neighbor," Jesus instead told a story, and the story was this.
One day a man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked and beaten by robbers. Stripped of his clothing and dying, he was helpless.
In the distance a priest could be seen walking towards him. People at that time wore clothing that reflected their profession and the priest would likely have been wearing clothing that identified him as a priest from quite a distance. If anyone would stop to help an injured man it would be a priest, right? But the priest not only walked by, he crossed to the other side of the road to get away from the injured man and continued on his way.
The third person to come walking down the road was a Samaritan. And at this point the crowd listening to Jesus would have suddenly perked up like a pack of gophers. A Samaritan? Plot twist! Where is this going? The reason for the intrigue was because the Jews and the Samaritans had critical differences in their faith beliefs. When the Israelites were defeated in battle and many taken during the Babylonian exile, the Samaritans were made up of the Israelites who had stayed in the Land of Israel and who believed they had held to the true faith, as opposed to the Jews who returned later from exile and whose faith, they claimed, had been altered. As a result there was great tension between the two groups. Hatred ran deep and went back for generations. At the time this story was being told there was actually a saying, "You don't even want to spit on a Samaritan, because you don't even want that much of you touching them!
The dying man lying on the ground seeing a Samaritan walking towards him would have had every reason to believe that the Samaritan might even kick him on the way by. But that is not what happened. The Samaritan stopped. Not only did he stop, but he provided first aid care and then loaded the injured man on to his donkey, giving up his ride and walking the man to town on foot. Not only did he bring him to a nearby town, but he brought him to an inn.
The historical significance of this act lies in the etiquette laws of that time. If you were a traveler looking for lodging you would sit in the town's courtyard, and anyone passing by who had a spare room would be required by etiquette to offer it to you. The Samaritan would have known that and could have dumped the injured man in the courtyard so that his own people could deal with him. But that's not what he did. He took the injured man to an inn where he knew he would receive immediate attention. And he wasn't finished.
After providing further care for the injured man, the Samaritan needed to continue on his journey, but before leaving he approached the innkeeper, giving him money and requesting that he continue to care for the injured man until he returned, at which time he would pay for any additional expenses incurred.
At this point the crowd listening to Jesus would likely have been sitting in absolute silence as they processed the story that Jesus has just shared. When questioned about what it meant to love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus had answered the question, "who is my neighbor," by telling a story where one of their most hated enemies had taken good care of one of their own people when he was at his weakest. Processing. Processing. Processing.
And in the end that is what the Good Samaritan laws come down to, however they are worded in the various countries, provinces and states where they are applied. Love your neighbor as yourself. Provide the care that you hope would be provided for you if you were in the same position. And if you fulfill this act of love towards your neighbor you will have made things better. However the story turns out, if the person survives or passes away, you know you made it better because you stopped and you did something to care for them the same way you would hope to be cared for yourself.
The great thing is that loving your neighbor also helps to keep you from doing silly things that would cause more harm because if you asked yourself, "Would I want someone to stab me in the throat with a pen to try doing an emergency tracheotomy?" the answer is probably no, and so you don't do it to the other person because you'd be rather unhappy if someone did it to you. Remembering to love your neighbor as yourself helps you to achieve positive and constructive action and stops you from taking destructive action. It's simple and powerful and helps us to make sure that no one is left alone in a time of need.
How can you follow the example of the Good Samaritan? How can you love your neighbor as yourself today? And do you have an enemy who could benefit from being treated the way that you would hope to be treated yourself? Go do it. And watch amazing things happen.
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