Unexpected Compassion

Getting past ethnic prejudices is hard in today’s divided, angry society. In the first century it was just as difficult. In the Holy Land the sharpest ethnic division was between Jews and Samaritans. The latter believed they were legitimate descendants of Abraham, the survivors of the northern kingdom of Israel. First- century Jews didn’t buy it. They regarded the Samaritans as half breeds at best, law- breakers at worst. You need to know this to appreciate fully Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan (vv. 30–37).

A Jewish scholar asked Jesus which neighbor he was to love as Scripture commanded (see Lev. 19:18). Jesus answered by telling the parable and— you guessed it— the man who proved to be the neighbor to the beaten man turned out to be a Samaritan. The Samaritan fulfilled the Law of Moses (and followed the example of another good Samaritan; see 2 Chr. 28:8–15).

If we follow the example of the Samaritan, ethnic rancor disappears. Living in peace with those who are different is the call of God. Choose a person who is different from you in your neighborhood or at work and be a source of peace for him or her today for the sake of the gospel.