In the Gospel we were told of a Scribe, an expert in the
Jewish Law, who approached Jesus in what is, truly, the only way in which Jesus
can be rightly approached:
"Teacher,"
he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
The Law (Deuteronomy 6:5) said, as the expert knew well:
'You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength;’
however, he went on to pay Jesus a notable compliment by
asking Him:
Who is
my neighbour?
Yes, he was an expert in the Law, but here he was asking
Jesus what the words meant in practice: that was the humility of a man
sincerely seeking to find his way to eternal life.
Jesus told him a parable about one travelling from
Jerusalem down to Jericho falling into the hands of robbers, an all-too-frequent occurrence that many had suffered
before and many others would experience
in the future. The bandits of the Judean
desert did not scruple to kill at times, but in this case, having robbed the
man, they were content to leave him, wounded and helpless, by the side of the
road. Many Jews working in the Temple and living in
Jericho would make that same dangerous journey, and both the Priest and the Levite
in Jesus’ parable may well have recognized the victim as a neighbour, a fellow
Jew indeed, perhaps a fellow priest or Levite.
And yet, both of them, out of considerations for legal purity possibly, for
personal and family reasons, or because they simply did not want, or did not even
dare, to get involved with him, passed him by.
Finally, a Samaritan arrived on the scene.
Now, Samaritans, though closely related, were regarded as
enemies by the Jews, and, generally, Samaritans had a no friendship for Jews. In this case, however, the Samaritan of whom
Jesus spoke, having chanced upon the wounded man:
Was moved with compassion at
the sight. He poured oil and wine over his
wounds and bandaged them. Then he took
him to an inn, and cared for him. The
next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the
instruction, 'Take care of him. If you
spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back'
Jesus was indeed revealing the meaning of the word
"neighbour" to the Scribe: for His story showed that that neighbour
might turn out to be someone most unexpected.
The passing priest and Levite had the word of God on their
lips, as Moses said:
The
word is very near to you, already in your mouth. (Deut. 30:14)
That word they could repeat, discuss, dispute about, and
perhaps use to display their learning. However,
it was so very easy, in such circumstances, to forget that Moses had gone on to
say that ‘the word’ was also: In your heart, that you may obey it.
There have always been men able to use the Word of God as a
weapon for personal advancement on earth. On the other
hand, those using God’s Word as a guide to our heavenly home, have to humbly ask,
patiently knock and wait for, Him Who judges the hidden secrets of each and
every human mind and heart; only then will they be enabled to proclaim and
manifest something of His divine truth and heavenly beauty before men.
The Scribe, as a Jew, preferred to limit the word
"neighbour" to his fellow Jews; but, nevertheless, He felt uneasy
about it and so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbour?" whereupon
Jesus showed him that it was not possible to limit the significance of God's Word
according to human prejudices. Nevertheless, even when -- at the end of the
parable – Jesus asked:
Which of these three, in your
opinion, was neighbour to the robbers’ victim?
the expert in the Law could not bring himself utter the
words "the Samaritan", so ingrained was his Jewish prejudice! He could only prevail upon himself to say:
The one
who treated him with mercy.
As we heard in the second reading all the fullness of God
dwells in Jesus, and that is why we cannot try to restrict the effect of His
Word in our lives. We are called to
become children of God in Jesus and, if we are to be found in His likeness, we
must allow ourselves to be formed by His Spirit according to His Word. We must allow His Spirit to lead us wherever
He wills for the Spirit alone knows the
depths of God, He alone is Holy and Wise, and we must trust ourselves to Him.
Modern ideas of acceptable goodness usually involve soft
words and accommodating attitudes; clear doctrinal teaching and firm discipline
in moral matters are thought to be unacceptably rigid, totally unsympathetic. And so, many modern pseudo-disciples of Jesus’
goodness (not of Jesus Himself!) can be found trying to imagine the
guidance of ‘His Spirit’ along the broad,
loose, lines compatible with modern ideas concerning the total freedom of
individuals, the ‘rights’ of those who find themselves in the wrong body
(!), and society’s right to dispense accommodating ‘goodness’
with no reference to, or need of, any ‘God’.
People of God, beg
the Holy Spirit to lead your life along the way of Jesus, to form you in Jesus’
likeness, and then try to answer God’s call to faith, trust, and love with a humble
simplicity of mind and heart; do not allow your own prayerful thoughts and
conscientious actions to be distorted or determined by the selfishness, prejudices
and fears, or above all, by the excitement and pride , of modern
society.
The Spirit first led Jesus out into the silence of the desert
and then along the most unlikely way of the Cross: the disciple of Jesus is not
greater than his Master; he or she too, must be obedient enough to humbly follow
the lead of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus
said (John 3:8):
The wind blows where it
wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and
where it goes.
Finally, let us look at what is perhaps the greatest jewel
hidden in the field of today’s readings: Who was, Who is, the Good Samaritan? How could he just postpone, or at least
seriously interrupt his journey to spend a night at the inn, where he was not
likely to have been popular as a Samaritan?
Why was he alone able to deal
with the man’s wounds? Why did he not
just pay the hotelier extra for that first day’s extra care, as well as for
subsequent days’ care, ‘bed and board’?
Was the Samaritan a real person, or was he, in actual fact, a picture of
Jesus Himself? For He interrupted
His journey by His suffering and death on Calvary; He alone, by His
Gospel provides essential medicine for fallen man. Jesus did, indeed, continue His
journey to His heavenly home and now seeks to cure mankind’s grievous wound by His
own abiding heavenly prayer and intercession, and the earthly ministry of His Church, the inn
of help and healing for all seeking true rest and eternal life through saving
faith and baptismal grace.
Today we are invited to humbly rejoice in the wonder and
mystery of Jesus, to meditate on His goodness, His wisdom. A Sunday can pass by quickly chewing such
cud!
