Am I a Neighbour?

In our reading this week’, Luke presents lawyers, and experts in the Law, as an antagonist to Jesus. This antagonism is reinforced by the lawyer “testing” Jesus. The lawyer may call Jesus “Teacher,” but he really is putting himself in the position of grading Jesus’ answer. Jesus quickly changes the dynamic of the situation by posing a question back to him and grading the lawyer’s response with a “You have given the right answer.”

The lawyer, however, wants to “justify” himself and poses a challenging question to Jesus, but Jesus turns the tables by telling the parable, resulting in yet another question that the lawyer reluctantly answers. In addition, not wanting to mention the word “Samaritan” in a positive setting, the lawyer responds, “The one who showed him mercy.” The response “Go and do likewise,” is the direct answer to the lawyer’s initial question, but the terms of the argument certainly have changed.