But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
The scholar of the law answered correctly and yet still felt the need to justify himself before Jesus. He must have felt how much was demanded by what was written in the law. He may have loved with most of his heart, being, strength, and mind, and loved some around him reasonably well much of the time. But he did not do so always and with all that he was. In order to justify himself he looked to carve out legitimate limits. If neighbors were only a small subset of the people that crossed his path it might become more plausible to love them as he knew he ought. Then, perhaps, love of God could be reduced to the abstract and to ritual purity, such as that practiced by Levites and priests. Then, hopefully, he could continue on his own side of the road all the way to eternal life. But what the scholar was meant to realize was that "no man is justified by the law in the sight of God" (see Galatians 3:11). He felt that his best shot at self-justification was his hope to circumscribe what the law required. But true justification could only come through faith in Jesus himself.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
The Samaritan was someone who appeared from beyond the horizon of a narrow interpretation of the law, whose motivation was not to avoid moral obligation, but rather the desire to show compassion. By being able to recognize this archetypal figure as representative of one's true obligation to one's neighbor the scholar could transcend his own limited way of thinking. Trusting this teaching would be the beginnings of faith in Jesus himself for the scholar. It would be the beginning of a way forward beyond his own selfishness and human limitation. From trying to justify himself he could begin to learn how faith in Jesus could justify him.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Jesus himself was the one who most perfectly demonstrated love of God and love of neighbor. He was the one who approached humanity, wounded by sin, and began to heal us with the oil of the Spirit and the wine of his Eucharistic blood. By the crossed he carried us to his inn, the Church, and paid the price for our care with the two coins of his human and divine nature. In his promise to the innkeeper there was the guarantee of more than enough to provide for whatever care we might require.
At first, the parable of the good Samaritan might have been discouraging. The Samaritan went so far above and beyond what would have seemed by the scholar to be necessary according to the law. Yet he knew deep in his heart that passing by the victim was always an omission, and one he wasn't strong enough to never commit. But if he could recognize in Jesus the one who truly could pay the debt of love to one's neighbor he would begin to move to a place where Jesus could actually empower him to "Go and do likewise". Jesus was proof positive that human nature could actually love God and neighbor to the maximal degree. And faith in his command was the entryway to share in this power that he himself first demonstrated
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.”
Rather than looking to justify ourselves by defining the minimum effort required let us instead look to Jesus. His is not merely an uplifting story or a positive example. If we believe in him he himself will become the way by which we become truly capable of love and compassion.
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