One of the most popular stories in the Bible is the story of the Good Samaritan. It’s a story that originated in Jesus’ earthly ministry when a lawyer engaged him with a question. Not only is it one of the most popular stories from the pages of Scripture, it’s likewise one of the most abused and misinterpreted texts in the Bible.
When we read the Bible, it’s our duty to interpret the text properly. Paul exhorted Timothy to present himself to God as an approved workman “who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”12 Timothy 2:15 That is the duty of every Christian as we read the Bible. We cannot allow ourselves to embrace private interpretations or personal interpretations of the Bible. We must examine the original author’s intention to the original audience and then properly apply the text within our modern setting.
Missing the Point of the Good Samaritan
According to the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Good Samaritan story encourages us to engage in acts of social justice. In their teaching curriculum, they instruct leaders to have participants read the story in “a different way.” According to the curriculum, the story of the Good Samaritan is to cause us to think about the potential acts of the passers-by that could have been “social justice work.”2RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOCIAL JUSTICE HISTORY – Unitarian Universalist Association
Raleigh Sadler, in an article titled, “Living in light of the good Samaritan: Giving value to the devalued” in the publication titled Southern Equip published by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, argues that the story of the Good Samaritan can help us to avoid the dehumanization of the poor. While Christians should never dehumanize other image bearers of God, is that the meaning of the Good Samaritan story?
After the death of George Floyd, a newsletter was published by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association titled, “Newsletter: Every Life Is Precious To God.” In the newsletter, they stated the following, “Jesus dealt with racial discrimination when he told the parable of Good Samaritan.” While we should avoid ethnic discrimination for sure, is that really the point of the story?
In 2018, Nancy Pelosi took to the microphone for an astonishing 8-hour speech. Not only did she set a record, but she also quoted the Bible in the process. In her attempt to argue for caring for those who enter our nation’s borders illegally, she suggested that these “dreamers” shouldn’t fear swift deportation. At this point, Nancy Pelosi quoted the Good Samaritan text from Luke 10 claiming, “The Good Samaritan is one that has been used over and over again to welcome strangers.” Obviously the story of the Good Samaritan has nothing to do with welcoming illegal immigrants into a sovereign nation.
If your interpretation of the Good Samaritan is more aligned with a crooked politician than Jesus Christ, you have obviously missed the point of the story altogether.
If your interpretation of the Good Samaritan is more aligned with a crooked politician than Jesus Christ, you have obviously missed the point of the story altogether. This is not a new problem that has arisen in recent days. The Good Samaritan has been misinterpreted for many years. It was Origen who allegorized the text claiming:
The traveler (Adam) journeys from Jerusalem (heaven) to Jericho (the world) and is assaulted by robbers (the devil and his helpers). The priest (the law) and the Levite (the prophets) pass by without aiding the fallen Adam, but the Samaritan (Christ) stops to help him, sets him on his breast (Christ’s body) and brings him to an inn (the church), giving the innkeeper two denarii (the Father and the Son), and promising to come back (Christ’s second coming).
This is obviously not the point of the passage. Martin Luther critiqued Origen’s allegorical interpretation by suggesting the following:
That is why Origen received his due reward a long time ago when his books were prohibited, for he relied too much on this same spiritual meaning, which was unnecessary, and he let the necessary literal meaning go. When this happens Scripture perishes and really good theologians are no longer produced. Only the true and principal meaning which is provided in the letters can produce good theologians.3Martin Luther, Answer to the Hyperchristian, Hyperspiritual, and Hyper- learned, 178.
The Meaning of the Good Samaritan Story
It’s critical to examine the story of the Good Samaritan within its proper context. When we read Luke 10:25-37, we should note that the previous section is dealing with Jesus’ interaction with the seventy-two missionaries who returned with joy after being sent out by Jesus to engage in gospel ministry. Jesus then pointed them beyond superficial and temporal joy of demons obeying them in the name of Jesus to see the more powerful truth of their names being written in heaven.
This was an obvious reference to the sovereignty of God in salvation since their names were penned down in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world. Jesus then went on in Luke 10:21-24 to rejoice that God has chosen to reveal the truth of the gospel to some (little children) and to conceal it from others (wise and understanding). The point is that those who come to God as little dependent children are those who receive grace by faith, but those who are self-righteous and wise in their own eyes will not receive the grace of God—because they believe they have already earned it.
No man performs his way into the kingdom of God.
In the very next scene, perhaps as Jesus was teaching, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. He asked a question that on the surface seems legitimate. He asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”4Luke 10:25. With a closer examination, the verb translated, “shall I do” in the question is in the aorist tense. This implies an action that has already been performed in the past. So, the question could be translated:
“Teacher, what must I do (that I’ve already done) to inherit eternal life?”
The question has evil motives. Jesus then points him to the law by asking him what the law teaches. If he’s an expert in the law, he should understand the teachings of the law of God. The lawyer recites Deuteronomy 6, the Shema, which would have been recited twice per day by every Jew. Jesus agrees that he had spoken properly. That is what the law requires. We are to love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. Then Jesus tells the man to go and do likewise and he shall live.
At this point, it would be plain and obvious that Jesus was using the law to confront the self-righteous expert of the law. Even Jesus’ response was a quotation of Leviticus 18:5 which would demonstrate that it’s impossible for anyone to live out this requirement in their own power. The lawyer, with evil motivation, asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” The Pharisees had twisted the law to read that the neighbor was another Pharisee—or at minimum another Jew. He was hoping to trip Jesus up and prove him to be a false teacher.
Jesus then tells the man a story that we know as the Good Samaritan. The story is a parable, which must be understood properly. The word parable itself comes from the Greek word parabole. The prefix is para and means alongside which is connected to the word bolē, which means to throw. A parable is a specific genre of literature which is more than an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Parables serve the purpose of instructing the elect and concealing the truth from the reprobate.
When Jesus told the parable of the soils, the disciples asked him for an explanation. Jesus responded by saying:
“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”5Luke 8:10
Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan was a story that was created by Jesus rather than an actual historical event. Jesus’ parable involved a Jewish man who was assaulted and robbed on the remote roadside between Jerusalem and Jericho. The story included three men who passed by. The first was a priest and the second was a Levite. If anyone should know the law’s demand for compassion in such situations—it would be those two men. However, as the story was explained, they passed by on the opposite side of the road. The third man who came upon the injured Jew was a Samaritan. Logically speaking, this would have been worst case scenario. The Jews and Samaritans despised one another and there was great conflict between the two groups.
The Samaritan man did the unthinkable. He showed compassion. He treated the wounds of the injured Jew, took him to an inn to care for him properly, and provided money with assurance that any additional costs incurred would be covered when the Samaritan returned. This would have been a shocking climax to the story told by Jesus to the lawyer.
At that point, Jesus asks the lawyer which person proved to be a neighbor to the injured man on the roadside? The lawyer couldn’t bring himself to even say the word “Samaritan” so he responded, “The one who showed him mercy.”6Luke 10:37 It was at this point that Jesus said, “You go and do likewise.”
What’s the point? The point should be obvious. Not only has the lawyer not performed the law’s demands as he implied in his self-righteous question, but there is no way he could go and do likewise in his own power. The point of the parable is centered on confronting self-righteous attempts at earning salvation.
Salvation is of the Lord and grace is received as a little dependent child—not earned by self-righteous performances of religion.
The parable was a fictional story created by Jesus for confronting a self-righteous lawyer. It wasn’t a story for Christians to learn how to engage in acts of social justice. We can get to a point of learning how Christians who have been born again by the power of God can learn to love God supremely and our neighbors as ourselves—but that’s simply not the point of the Good Samaritan story.
The true lesson in the story isn’t about volunteering at a homeless shelter or a local soup kitchen. The text isn’t about lifting up the devalued of society or promoting DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in our community. Acts of compassion and charity are right and good in their own place, but the point of Jesus’ parable is to teach us that we are incapable of earning salvation. No man performs his way into the kingdom of God. Salvation is of the Lord and grace is received as a little dependent child—not earned by self-righteous performances of religion.
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