What the Samaritan did NOT do is just as striking as what he did. You know the story: an expert in Judaic law asks Jesus what is God’s expectation, the “greatest” commandment? Jesus replies with “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. This prompts the follow up,...
Sometimes for humans no one is more "other" than the person who claims to worship the same God we worship but differently, and the Samaritans were "those people."
"Love your neighbor as yourself" matters most when our common understanding is least.
The identifying characteristic which sets apart Jesus' genuine followers from the rest of the world is not wisdom, nor right theology, nor moral righteousness, nor social power; it is extraordinary love.
The Good Samaritan story is not just a good example of compassionate spirituality. It is a critique against religious passivity. If "church people" won't work for justice and mercy, God will find some other people who will.
A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to...
He comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. He confronts you in every person that you meet. As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor…