The Parable of the Good Samaritan is among the most influential bible stories we know. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines a Good Samaritan as a person who is generous in helping those in distress. Good Samaritan laws offer legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to those who are, or whom they believe to be, injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated. Good Samaritans are known to people of faith and the secular community alike. They are known in times of peace and in times of war. Who is a Good Samaritan today?
Awad Darawshe was one of the paramedics routinely assigned to the Supernova Sukkot Festival near Kibbutz Reʻim on October 7, 2023. When the Hamas terrorists attacked, his colleagues fled. But Mr. Darawshe stayed and helped the injured. He was shot while treating others. Mr. Darawshe was a Palestinian Israeli, a person of Palestinian descent who holds Israeli citizenship. His very existence makes him a bridge between two cultures which are commonly defined as enemies, but, let us never forget, could as well be friends. The Darawshe family lives in Iksal, a small Arab-majority town near Nazareth. They have been bridge builders and peace makers for a long time. And they are determined to continue this work as they mourn their 23 year old son Awad, even though peace makers are more and more viewed as suspicious, even traitors, in these times. Peace is always an option, as unlikely as it may seem in times of conflict and war.
In December 1944, Germans and Americans were enemies. 12-year-old Fritz Vincken lived with his mother in a cottage in the Huertgen Forest. His hometown Aachen had been destroyed in an American attack and they found refuge in that little cottage. Now the Germans were advancing in the Ardenne offensive and the Vinckens heard the sounds of heavy fighting every day. On Christmas Eve, Fritz and his mother answered a knock on the door and found three American soldiers standing there, one of them injured. They had lost their battalion, and had been searching for it for three days. They were asking for shelter. Mother Vincken invited them in, helped to get Harry, the wounded one, settled, and started preparing a warm meal of chicken and potatoes for them all. There was another knock at the door. Fritz went to answer, fully expecting more lost Americans. But this time the Wehrmacht stood in front of the door. Four German soldiers had looked for their regiment in vain, and were asking to stay until morning. The Vinckens knew: Sheltering the enemy was high treason, punishable by death! They could all be shot! Nevertheless, Fritzʻ Mom said: “ You are welcome to shelter and a warm meal. But we have other guests whom you might not consider friends. This is Christmas Eve, and there will be no shooting in my house.” The soldiers accepted, and the mother collected all weapons from the Germans and the Americans. After some uncomfortable moments at the beginning, everyone relaxed and the unlikely group spent a memorable Holy Night together. At midnight, they all stepped in front of the door, gazing at the stars and searching for the star which leads to Bethlehem. The next morning, the enemy soldiers shook hands and each group departed in different directions. By Christmas 1945, the war was over, and Germans and Americans were starting to embark on a journey of friendship again. No conflict, no war, lasts forever.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus, a Jew, tells the story of a Samaritan who helps an injured man when others donʻt. Jews and Samaritans were estranged at that time, so Jesus chooses an unlikely hero for this story. Many interpreters understand how meaningful this choice was. This is a story about enemies helping each other as neighbors. In a German bible illustration from the 17th century, the Good Samaritan is depicted as a Turk, who was the enemy at the time. The Jesuit scholar Juan Maldonaldo wrote an impactful commentary in 1597, insisting that
“Jesus wished to teach us that every human being without restriction of race or country, is our neighbor.”
Francois Bovon, Hermeneia, Luke 2, p. 63.
But earlier interpretations saw the Good Samaritan as allegorical. An allegory has hidden spiritual meaning that transcends the literal sense of a sacred text. Origen, who lived during the 3rd century, offers the following key to the parable:
“The man who was going down represents Adam: Jerusalem, paradise; Jericho, the world; the bandits, the hostile powers; the priest, the law; the Levite, the prophets; and the Samaritan Christ. The wounds stand for disobedience; the animal, Christʻs body; and the pandochium, i.e. the inn that is open to all who wish to stay there, symbolizes the Church. Moreover, the two denarii stand for the Father and the Son; the innkeeper, the head of the Church, in charge of administration; and as for the promise made by the Samaritan to return, that is a figure of the Saviorʻs second coming.”
Francois Bovon, Hermeneia, Luke 2, p. 60-61.
Allegorical interpretations are foreign to us today, but they were common throughout the early church and the middle ages. As far as I am concerned, this is the most comforting prophecy of the second coming of Christ Iʻve ever heard: Christ to come back to continue his saving and healing ministry as if he had just been on a short journey elsewhere!
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is an example story which calls you and I to neighbor love. We are to act in compassionate ways, just as Jesus does. We are to show impartial mercy, just as Jesus does. The heroes I told you about in this blog post, they did just that. Awad Darawshe, the paramedic who gave his life while saving others. The Vincken family, giving hospitality to friend and foe alike. Countless heroes, known and unknown, show the same courageous welcome and compassion when life thrust these crucial moments of decision making on them. When did you act as a good Samaritan? Who do you know who did such a thing? When did you see Jesus in someone who helped you? – In someone you helped?
