Jesus once told the story of a man who, after having been beaten by robbers, was left to die on the side of the road. A Priest and a Levite walked by, but they ignored the hurting man; eventually a Samaritan came by and helped the man, nursed his wounds, set him on his donkey and carried him to a place where he could be taken care of. He even hiked the proverbial extra mile, and instructed the care taker to keep a tab, so that when he returned he would personally reimburse him for any extra expenses incurred in restoring the wounded man to full health.
The story was told in response to a persistent but well-meaning inquirer, who challenged Jesus to explain who he meant by that vague persona we are all commanded to love as one’s own self: our neighbor. And so, in his inimitable flair for animating depth in simplicity, Jesus posed the pregnant question: which of these three personified the essence of what it means to be a loving neighbor?
Today we tend to view the contrast between the selfish actions of the two religious officials and the selfless act of the Samaritan as the main focus of this story. We recoil in indignation at the benumbing fear and self-righteousness of the two men saturated in religious form, and we commend the Samaritan for going above and beyond the call of compassion to help a complete stranger lying wounded on the road.
It is often also noted that in that culture Samaritans and Jews were considered enemies, and the man who was assaulted is presumed to be of Jewish descent, since he is said to have been journeying from Jerusalem. Thus, in a very concrete way, the Samaritan was being faithful to Jesus’ command to unconditionally love one’s enemies.
Both of these are good observations from which we can all draw life changing principles. But recently I was struck by a most conspicuous keynote in the story; the fact that the man who needed help was in the path of all three travelers. They all “happened to be going down the same road”.
This seemingly mundane element in the story reinforces a very important principle, which is that God never commission us to do the impossible. That is more his specialty.
The scriptures tell us that God prepares good works for us to do. It follows that He would not require of us duties which he has not first properly equipped us or will equip us to fulfill. In fact, if we take a closer look at the circumstances under which God appears to be calling us to action, the tasks involved often represent rather slight inconveniences that in balance turn out to be more than rewarding experiences.
To illustrate further, the man in the story who needed help was lying on the road on which the Priest, the Levite and the Samaritan were walking by that day anyway.
Not one of them had to go on assignment to seek someone who may need their assistance. In fact, two of them made a conscious effort to ignore a needy person they would have otherwise stumbled upon. That seems to be the nature of most of the calls we hear from God on a daily basis. Unfortunately, that is also the manner in which we ourselves sometimes respond.
Too often we are paralyzed by the threat of a foreboding divine imperative to travel to a far off country and feed a family in a remote village we will probably never set foot in, when instead, a simple re-tuning of our sensibilities will help us become aware of needs that may be closer at hand than we think.
When our fortunes seem to have become fortuitously aligned with those of someone who has a present need, or more figuratively, if we happen to be crossing paths with a person who is physically or spiritually wounded, this is not a mere product of chance. It is likely that we may be that person whom God is calling to step up to the plate and say: let me offer some assistance.
It is no accident that that person has been placed on the same road that we are walking on. And if it is well within our power to help that person, the evidence would strongly suggest that God may be calling on us to respond.
Such circumstances can be viewed more as opportunities that God presents for us to help others, which often turn out to be surprisingly soul enriching experiences. This is because God has already prepared them for us before hand, so that through us he may display His incomparable love and compassion for people; hence Jesus’ closing words in responding to his inquirer: “go and do likewise”
So the Good Samaritan is not so much good, as he is one who responded to a clear summons – indeed a privilege - to assist someone in need; someone who had been placed in his path by the invisible hand of Him who sent both the helper and the one in need.
And who knows if some day we may be the ones who have been left wounded in the way of someone else’s path. We must not despair that the person God sends will turn to the other side, for the one whom he has sent is surely coming only to heal.
