Samaritan | Parables 6

In which John and David discuss the parable known as the Good Samaritan. This parable is quite well known, or perhaps it's one of those parables where we think we know it better than we actually do.

• Click Here to read the text from Luke 10:25-37
• Click Here to learn more about Bailey's Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes that John and David mention in this episode

Episode 6 of the Two Texts Podcast | Parables of Jesus Series 6

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Music by Woodford Music (c) 2021

Transcript

David Harvey  0:01  
Hi there. I'm David Harvey. I'm here with John Andrews. And this is the two texts podcast. In this podcast, we're two friends in two different countries here every two weeks talking about two different texts from the Bible. This, however, is our lunch series. And so we're bringing you a daily episode of the two of us talking about the parables of Jesus.

This is Episode Six. And it's called Samaritan.

John Andrews   0:37  
So David, today, we're looking at probably, I might suggest, one of the most famous parables of Jesus, I think, in one form or another, it finds its way into our conversations and language. And it's the story, sometimes translators in our Bibles entitled, the parable of the Good Samaritan, again, another lovely, unique parable in the Gospel of Luke interestly. This is the only gospel that appears in and you think it's such a rocking parable, it sort of it would have been great to see it in other gospels, but clearly, Dr. Luke is trying to say something to us through this. And so we're going to delve into that today and have a little bit of a look at this gorgeous and challenging and controversial, little parable. So why don't you read it to us from Luke chapter 10.

David Harvey  1:31  
All right, and, and verse 25. So it goes like this. Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. You kind of feel like that's maybe not gonna go well. I know, I'm supposed to just be reading the text, but you just feel like this is the beginning of a disaster story, right? So just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus, teacher, he said, What must I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, what is written in the law? What do you read there? He answered, well, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, You have given the right answer, do this, and you will live. But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance, a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise, leave right when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, while traveling came near him. And when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an end and took care of him. The next day, he took out two dinar, I gave them to the innkeeper, and said, Take care of him. And when I come back, I will repay you, whatever more you spend. Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? And he said, the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, Go, and do likewise.

John Andrews   3:58  
Stunning, stunningly good. It's an incredible story. I think, again, if I, hopefully if people have been following us on our little podcasts, I hope this doesn't sound too repetitive. But of course, having grown up in church, the only time I really heard this parable used was in what we called our gospel service. And what we meant by that was, it was generally a Sunday night service. And that was when we sort of designed to service to invite non believers to sort of think about being believers. And every single time in my upbringing, I heard this parable preached, it was in that context. Now, ironically, I grew up in Northern Ireland. And at the time of my upbringing, we were absolutely entrenched in what has become known as the troubles Catholic communities at war with problems in communities, a sort of a nationalist paramilitary force against a loyalist paramilitary force with the British Army sort of stuck somewhere in the middle. And ordinary people like us stuck somewhere in the middle. And I had the joy of growing up on what was called probably as an oxymoron, it was called the peace lane. And it was a flashpoint that says, between two communities, I grew up in a Protestant community. And across literally across the road was a Catholic community. And eventually, they had to build a big wall between those two communities, which was incredible. So so the ultimate irony for me as I began to then later on as a young, a young person, an older teenager, and a young adult started to seriously study the Scriptures. And I started to get into this text, I realized that actually, of all the parables that really could have spoke to the situation I grew up in, this was the one. And yet every time I heard it preached on the actual meaning of this parable, never ever got to the ears of its listeners. And it was turned into a beautiful little metaphor of how someone who's lost gets found by Jesus, who's the type of the Good Samaritan, and Jesus poisoned the oil and the wane and saves us. That's how it was, it was taught us and yet, that's not actually what the parable is about. And for years, I was genuinely Miss LED. Not I don't mean deliberately. But I mean, I think people didn't want to read the real meaning of this parable, I think people wanted to soften this parable up, in order to not have to be confronted with the Samaritans out there. There are people not like us out there. There are people that are, I don't want to have anything to do with there. And I don't want to have my faith challenge me to have anything to do with those people like that. And I think this parable absolutely leans into the sort of social, religious, ethnic polarization that Jesus's world would have experienced, from a day to day perspective, is that fair? And in terms of an observation,

David Harvey  7:17  
well experienced, I would say and even promoted, you know, there's, there's a lot of evidence that not only was there significant boundaries in the time of Jesus, but these were valued, you know, that these, these boundaries were treasured, even, you know, there's, there's, you know, there's some evidence that it wouldn't be uncommon, you know, for for a Jewish man to pray a prayer that opened with thank god, I'm not a Gentile, you know, the, the the boundaries. were, you know, to use your example of the peace line. You know, there was somebody out there every day, repainting it, making sure making sure you know, this, we want to make sure this this line doesn't, doesn't fade, you know. And I think we're probably still in the same boat to this day, aren't we, in that sense that we like, we'd like these divisions. I mean, a couple of things I think are interesting, you know, the, if you want to know a little bit more about the divisions between Jews and Samaritans, you know, without even getting a Bible Dictionary out, or, you know, your, your kind of introduction to the Bible type Handbook, just jump over to john chapter four. And you get a dialogue between Jesus and a Samaritan woman, which is very much around there. Well, you know, like, we don't really get on very well I slot Dewey. So. And it's funny, isn't it? How often, the people that we get, along with least, are most similar to us, you know. And, you know, like, I remember john, once I am, when I was doing my doctorate, I took a phenomenal class on by by one of the universities, you know, Jewish scholars, who is a scholar of modern Judaism, a brilliant man, Professor, Professor lankton. And I remember him talking to us, there were three of us in the class, we all came from Christian backgrounds, right? And now think about the statement that he's about to make in light of what you've just said about Northern Ireland and Protestant Catholicism. And we were talking and he said, here's the thing you need to understand. He said, for the average Jewish person says, when we look at Christians, we can't tell the difference between Protestants and Catholics. It's just, we just can't figure it out. And you know, and then somebody's like, you know, yourself, you think what, you know, what a statement to me what you mean, you can't tell the difference. The differences are obvious, but they're obvious because we're so close to each other, you know, an outsider looks in English. What are those folks arguing about? Because they seem to all believe the same stuff would use in Samaritans or you know, when you actually, when you actually listen to the woman talk to Jesus, they're having an argument about a mountain Well, we think it's this mountain and you think it's that mountain. Again, you see this, like in the in first century history, it generally seems to be that it's probably around about 120, or after the Romans start being able to tell the difference between Jews and Christians, you know. So all of that to say, it's amazing how angry we can get at people who are remarkably similar to us. And I think that's important for reading this parable at some sort of level. Usually, the parable picks up in in john chapter 10. And, again, I'm going to be repetitive for a moment. But I think it's important, it's such an important exegetical point, the parables don't happen in isolation, they happen as part of stories. So if you've been reading through Luke from start to finish in chapter nine, you realize if you just pay attention, Jesus is beginning to journey through scenario. So or end towards sumeria. He's somewhere on that sort of journey. So he's he's a gathered this, this, this mob. I want to call them disciples. But I think there's evidence that it's not quite, it's not quite that harmonious. There's this group of people who are with him. And then the text has said, Jesus is now heading to Jerusalem. He said, right, we're going so in the narrative of Luke, this is a significant shift, isn't it? This is the journey to the cross has begun. And And so Jesus is on this journey. And he's and he's even sent some disciples ahead to figure out some, you know, accommodation or type issues in sumeria. Right? So they're, they're carving through Samaritan territory, this band of Jewish people. And then Jesus tells a story about a Samaritan. So so the scene to me is set quite, quite excitedly in that sort of sense. And Jesus has done one other little thing that I think it's worth the serious reader just paying attention to, in the lean up in the lineup, in the lead up to this story, you've had a couple of kind of interesting little things happen. where Jesus has started to, he sent out a mission, basically, you've got 70 off me said, right, you're gonna go off and do some stuff. And there's all these famous at bits of text show there, actually. I mean, Luke isn't absolutely nailed on with the geography here. But I think I don't think you're there's nothing he says to contradict the idea that they're heading into towards and through Samaritan territory. So there's even a level that chapter 10, this mission of the 70 is almost potentially even a Samaritan mission at some sort of level, I don't, you know, I'm just seeing that there. And he's given them instructions, this is how you behave, this is how you deal. And then in the middle of that, he's just kind of thrown out this series of wars, to some Galilean tones, which is really quite interesting, you know, because he said to them, you know, you some of these places, you're gonna go with this message, people are not going to accept you, they're gonna reject you. And you can almost feel the nuance of the crowd going, Yeah, that'll be them Samaritans, right. Of course, they're going to, of course, they're going to reject this. And then Jesus says, Hey, what about it, wait a minute. And then he lists three Galilean texts, and says, and says, you know, this, you guys are in trouble because because if it's going to be, it's going to be worse for you than tire inside. And that's going to archetypal, troublesome towns from Old Testament, right. And, and he, you know, he basically enrolls out that, that even them have not listened properly. So there's, there's a little bit of tension rising in the parable. And I can imagine some murmuring around these people. So Jesus is sending a mission out to these folks. He's now criticizing the good old hometown places that, you know, I can't believe that's what Jesus is intended to do, they might be thinking, and then he gets this test from a lawyer, almost like, again, we're forced to do a bit of imaginative work by Luke in this but but I'm seeing the sense of almost this time when we say lawyer normally costs in the Greek, you know, we don't I would say, john, don't think you know, the guy that you go to to work out your, you know, where your fences because the neighbor seems to be letting his dog into your yard. We're talking expert into raw, it would be silly, maybe this is a this is a religious legal expert, which of course in the ancient world, that blend for Israel between Torah and regular laws is probably a lot blurrier for us anyway. So I almost think that you've got this religious expert jumping up, like he stood up, and almost in a sense of, alright, this is too far. It's just, this is too far, like because I don't get what's going on here anymore. So you get the question. That's a very almost an early question. This is the kind of question you expect, not in the middle of the mission. Right? You expect this question early on in your journey of following Jesus that hey, how do I get into eternal life? And then And then Jesus will explain that you're the site or I'm going to follow so my reading of this john and but you know, I I'm always open to different nuances. my reading of this is almost an exasperated. So I'm going to go back to the beginning here says this lawyer, I just need to start again, how do I inherit eternal life? Because the events of the last kind of little bit have just kind of thrown me in a bit of a tizzy. I don't know where we're going anymore. Do you think that that is that how you would potentially see that passage?

John Andrews   15:22  
Yeah, absolutely. And I think how Jesus responds to his question is interesting. So I think it leans into a sense in which the expert is grappling, for meaning is grappling for understanding. So again, our sort of modern evangelical world would interpret that question in a very sort of, how do I get my sins forgiven, go to heaven type question. Whereas he's asking something more about the kingdom of God, what Jesus is about, how do we enter into this that you're talking about? How do we live in essentially, exactly, he's looking for some traction on the ideas. And of course, if as Luke's Gospel is showing us, we've got this, this drive to the margins, this Jesus pulling the margins through and pulling them together. And that gathers more and more momentum than it is creating real consternation in people who are trying to work this out from the Torah, from the text. And so Jesus answer I think, is really telling Jesus answers the question with a question very, very rabbinic. It is absolutely, and I think there are over 300 questions that Jesus answers asks, in the gospels, you know, just incredible amount of questions. There's a really, there's a brilliant moment in any modern interview with le VSL. You know, the, the famous writer from the Holocaust. And the interviewer said to me, European interviewer said to him, I noticed that you Jews, always seem to answer questions with questions.

David Harvey  16:58  
He says, Why do you do that? And to yourself, said, why not?

John Andrews   17:07  
to good? to good, I still good. But of course, you know, when we are introduced to dialogue between between God, the God of the garden, in the beginning, and the first humans, at God, the first recorded dialogue between them is a question, you know, where are you? So so you're getting i a context in which questions are very normal in a first century world of scholarship, which No, we've got, if you like a rabbi and an expert in the law, having a debate, the idea of asking each other questions, and a sort of a more confrontational or caustic form of learning is much more comfortable for them, we get a bit we get a bit in the West, especially, you know, in the UK, we would be a bit Oh, that was a bit full on that was a bit harsh. Whereas in a Jewish worldview, I think they are much more comfortable with like, hard questions, testing the text, iron, sharpening iron, getting into it, and, and arguing the text that the meaning is found in the argument. So Jesus then simply responds, throws the ball back into his court and said, Well, what, what is written in the law? high do you read it? Or how do you interpret it? What do you think Moses says, within this, and so throwing the responsibility back on the expert of the law to see where he's coming from, of course, he he responds, in a in a classic way, he quotes part of the Shema. And he quotes Leviticus 19, he puts those two ideas together, the only two times in the Torah, where they are half attack, the idea of Anjou shall love is repeated. So I'd You shall love the Lord your God for your haftar is that is the idea used there. And then and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So we've got we've got two phrases used that bring these two ideas together, and then the Torah, you've got the big ideas of love God, love your neighbor and love the stranger. So so they're powerful ideas rooted in the tax. So what Jesus is about to launch into, shouldn't really surprise the expert in the law. And when then he answers Well, yeah, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. I think he adds mind in the context of that and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus goes, boom, answered, outstanding interest

David Harvey  19:43  
job. In the Greek Jesus says, the word that he uses is orthos. You have answered orthos, which is where you actually got ortho right correctly, which is where we get the word orthodoxy. So I almost want to know Jesus almost as you've given an orthodox answer, you know, absolutely. Given the Ravens bang on, you know.  Also, it's interesting to note that the answer the guy gives is quite a common one. We've seen Jesus give this answer himself elsewhere, but even like to have the, in fact, there's a brilliant little Jewish story about rubbish ami and Rabbi Hillel, and and they were the two kind of bake rabbis of the kind of Jesus time and you either were in, you're either in hillels camp or Shanghai's camp if you were, and I think a lot of the discussions you see around Jesus actually are our Pharisees and and teachers and these sort of people asking Jesus, which camp he's in, you know, are you in Hello was a bit of a liberal Sham, I was a hardline, conservative. And interestingly, Jesus, with the exception of one occasion, in all of the discussions that he's asked, which we can track to discussions about a Hillel or shumai, Jesus always sides with Hillel, on the slightly more graceful approach to reading the law, with the exception of marriage, where Jesus actually rejects Hillel and leans more to the importance of marriage, maybe a podcast for the future for us. Yes, absolutely. But the story is told that a young man went to test chimay one day and said to him, can you recite the whole law while I stand on one foot? Do which Am I said, Go away. So then he went to Hillel, and said, you know, can I can you recite the whole law, when I stand on one foot to which Hillel said, Do not do what is hateful two years to you to your neighbor? He said, this is the whole law. And the rest is commentary. And so, so it's interesting that when the young man gives this response, he's actually it's a positive version. Love your neighbor as yourself, which we see Jesus also say somewhere, but it's, it's your religion. This is clearly a discussion that's going on around the time of Jesus is how do you boil the law down into sort of something, you know, tweet worthy, was for a lot of laws, we need it in a sentence. And so actually, you get the sense that this was a common way of Jesus pretty stereotypical answer that Jesus has allowed here. And that says, It's orthodox, it's not revolutionary, it's not brand new. It's if we just go old testament to New Testament, we might think, Wow, like goodness, Jesus is really torn up here with this thing. Actually, this is orthodoxy that Jesus has just rolled

John Andrews   22:20  
out here at this sort of point. It is no, absolutely right. And, and I think then, his response is sort of affirmative. But okay, yeah, that's great. Do this in your live? you've answered your question. Well done. Let's move on.

David Harvey  22:37  
A star? No,

John Andrews   22:39  
exactly. No, whether Jesus senses that the expert has an agenda here or not. He doesn't encourage the agenda. He's simply going, you've got the right answer. And I think you need to, you just need to do that. And that's the moment when the x register went, Okay,

David Harvey  23:01  
I've done wellborn I came out alive.

John Andrews   23:04  
Absolutely. That's move on. Because I've answered this correctly. But the telling sort of killer punch in his story, up to this point, is this whole idea but wanting to justify himself. So there's clearly a bit of point scoring going on here. So I've got the right answer, which he knew he had. I mean, this as you say, this is a pretty standard summary of Torah. Yeah, love God with all your heart is not only the Shema, it's the summary of the first four great words of God, the four great commandments, I'd love your neighbor as yourself as a summary of the second six great commandments. I mean, it's, you know, this is this is sort of scholarship, one or one any Rabbi tell you this. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. And any boy that's gone to Torah school would have sort of, I think, would have got that. So clearly, Jesus, maybe senses without reading too much into Okay, there's probably an agenda here. There's something going on, but he makes the agenda difficult. He doesn't feed the agenda as yet Great answer to this and love. Bo dogit.

David Harvey  24:09  
Do you think there's, like, no, this might be where you're going. So forgive me if I'm jumping in on you, john there but like, there's the there's the agenda. But there's also this iframe, there's like a lueken second level, if you just and like and I would almost always want to encourage anyone reading the Bible text, just to think and pause and read slowly. This is what kind of all of our podcasts will ultimately be about is reading more slowly. You've got you've got some really key looking theological answers in here. And I think that right at the very start, the guy gets himself into trouble with his opening question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? And the question itself is slightly faulty. If you think about it, you know, that'd be like, imagine, you know, turn it up to your, you know, an only child goes to their parents. What do I need to do to inherit that You know, from you what you do nothing, said you if it's an inheritance, it's not about what you do. So there's a slightly kind of problematic notion there. And even there's the question of what do I need to do? You know, we see in another serie of story of Jesus, you know, a rich man comes to Jesus says, What do I need to do? And Jesus tells him what he needs to do. And it's too difficult, you know, it's too much. But I think the critique of Jesus is always in Luke's Gospel, well, you're not gonna be able to do anything. If you want to insist on what you do, you're always going to find that you'll fall short. And that's where the whole grace narrative comes in. But that then seems to me to be fully exposed, then what do I need to do when Jesus because Oh, you want to do something? Here you go do this. No, I can't help as a Pauline scholar, because that was my area of research and expertise. I can't help be drawn to Romans chapter seven. where Paul makes the point, the problem isn't the war. The problem is our inability to do it. Right. So So Jesus is just love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Yeah, that's enough. But of course, the Lucan critique is, by the time we get to the cross, realize, nobody can do this, right? This is beyond us. This, all that God has asked of us is to love our neighbor, and we can't. And so then you get the second Lucan Echo, I think of the kind of Pauline theology which I'm convinced is intentional. Wanting to justify himself, I'm sinking through it in English, we talk about justification, and we talk about righteousness. But of course, in Greek, that's the same word. So wanting to show himself as righteous. So there's a self righteousness, what do I need to do? How do I prove it? And now I'm going to try and exemplify it. So I mean, I just jumping in, you know, interrupting you with that, john, but it just feels like that nuance is at play in Luke here.

John Andrews   26:44  
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And, and I think that, in, in dealing with the sort of religious community, he's always pushing those ideas around, and in a world, you know, that the expert of the law would have represented so you know, we reflected in a previous podcast, Paul, who it regards to the law, blameless. So there's an attention to detail here, which is quite profound. So So yeah, absolutely. Um, what, what do I need to do? And Jesus says, do this, do what you've just said, and live? But clearly, another agenda is at work. And so the man asks, okay, trying to justify himself, okay. Well, who is my neighbor? That is not a strange question. And I think it leans into the opening conversation and trajectory that you create it that if you've got a movement towards the south, which definitely from Luke chapter nine, we've got a north to south trajectory geographically. And there is the idea that Jesus is picking up the sort of waifs and strays of society, the marginalized, are gluing themselves to him, or now

David Harvey  28:08  
he's heading toward leave Marissa?

John Andrews   28:11  
Yeah, absolutely. Or at the very least, are hanging around him. Isn't that a strange question? So when he says, Well Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbors yourself? And so Jesus says, do this and live, you know, of all the questions he could have asked? He asked that question. Yeah. So there's clearly a motivation here around the type of people that Jesus is gathering. It has to be an allusion to that because it doesn't seem it doesn't seem to be the most obvious question you would ask in that regard, because I would have started with Well, okay, Jesus, well, what is loving God with all my heart look like? In your opinion? That may have been the starting question that I had or, but, but he asked who's my neighbor, which means that's on his mind?

David Harvey  28:58  
Yes, we're heading towards this part of the country. And you're not going to ask me to love them, too. Are you Jesus?

John Andrews   29:05  
Exactly. And if this guy is hanging around Jesus, this expert or he's been assigned by the religious community to sort of take notes and observe and feedback, then he's clearly perhaps I would suggest, he is clearly nervous about the sorts of corrode that's hanging around Jesus, and therefore, this is the killer question. It's okay. Who's my neighbor? So, so, so reading between, are you saying, this bunch are my neighbor? Are you saying the Samaritans are my neighbor? Are you saying some of the some of the people that you've ministered to already on the very fringes of our society, and even outside of our society is my neighbor. So it's a loaded question. loaded question. Of course, it's designed to force Jesus to define neighbor. It's a brilliant question. So It's it's going to corner Jesus in such a way Well, your Jew is your neighbor Samaritan is not. Okay? A white person's your neighbor, black person's not okay, a straight person is your neighbor, a gay person's not so. So actually what what he is trying to do is get Jesus to name some folks. So tell me who made the abrez. And of course, it like it opens a moment of absolute genius where Jesus doesn't mean a name. But Jesus tells a story, an industry story, it becomes a parent, who the man's neighbor is, and and I think this is profoundly, profoundly powerful. For us within this, it's the telling of the story that shows the expression of the Torah. That actually, the man who did is the man who was an the man who was there, for by application, according to your definition, of inheriting eternal life, is the man who's also loving God. So suddenly the lawyer by his answer, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbors yourself, has set up a a scenario where whoever this neighbor is that Jesus is about to land is by definition, loving his neighbor, and therefore loving God, and therefore, according to the Jewish expert, inheriting eternal life. So it's a really, really troublesome moment. And so he's following the story with interest as Jesus launches into it.

David Harvey  31:48  
The lack of identity is actually quite interesting in this then as well, isn't it? Because, you know, so who is my neighbor? I mean, it's, it's so good, john. It's like, it's like, metaphorically, it's like, the man jumps into a lion's cage, because he dropped his sandwich, right? And he grabs his sandwich and gets out, alive, and then decides, I'm gonna do that again. So it's like you asked, he stands up to test Jesus, he asked the question he gets so Jesus says to him, Yep, that's right, do it. Rather than going, Man, I'm gonna write a book about this equals Russia. Now, I'm coming back to that again, you know, and I 100% resonate with what you're seeing there. But Jesus's reply is interesting. You know, anthropologists in the Greek where we get the word anthropology from so even, even man is a slightly assumptive Translation here, right? So it would not be bad translation to man is not a bad translation. But But you could literally a human was going like, is it? Do you think it's significant? That and that Jesus gives about as least descriptive away? What do we know about the the man that was helped by the Good Samaritan? While we don't actually even know it was a man, we have a human looks like a person. So a person was going that might even be the better translation actually might and a person was going from you. Who is this person? You don't know? Right? I mean, do you think there's something in that?

John Andrews   33:28  
Or do I do? And of course, what sometimes, unfortunately, certain texts and certain translations have done, it's inserted a Jewish man. I mean, I've literally seen that and some translations. I mean,

David Harvey  33:42  
later on, you do see that it probably is a man because you get masculine pronouns, admittedly, yes. But but the opening line, you're just getting, no, it's a person, a person,

John Andrews   33:53  
a person went down. So and of course, you're giving no clue to his identity or her identity. You're just told that so it's not a Jewish person. weed. So So for example, if we were trying to work out, is this person white or black? We don't know. This person, Jewish or Gentile? We actually don't know this person, rich or poor. Well, wealthy enough to be robbed of something. But Okay. Is this person gay or straight? No idea. I mean, we've, we actually don't know a single thing about him other than this person was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, and got the life beat out of him in order to get his stuff at all we know. So, as we look at this person line on the side of the road, we have no clue who he is. And I think that's deliberate. I think that's the point of this parable, because the point is not the identity of the person, but the action of the Samaritan. That's what defines this moment. Now, of course you can you can read the sort of Jewish Samaritan idea into this. And of course, I think it's I think it's all there. And I have no problem with that. But the fact that Jesus doesn't, doesn't have any labor that idea. So and I think right, so to be fair to the priest in the leaves, right, okay. I think, I think that leans into their hesitancy because they don't know who this is. All right, but this could be a Gentile. This could be a Jew. This, I don't know who this is. Okay, so. So actually, their hesitancy is because they can't clarify the identity of the person potentially. And therefore they move on?

David Harvey  35:47  
Because locations for their ministry? Absolutely.

John Andrews   35:51  
Yeah. And in order to, in order to identify, you would have to get closer. And they don't want to do that. Maybe for other reasons. So they pass by quickly. But I noticed something beautiful here, David, that we might lean into a bit later on, when we look at the parable of the two sons, but it says of the Samaritan, which is absolutely beautiful, verse 33. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the Walkman was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him. It's cm language used of the father who's looking for the son in Luke 15, which we'll probably get to later on in our little series, and had compassion on him. See him freeze used. So you get this beautiful idea that he's not just, he's not just drawing near, but he is involved. He saw him on whatever he saw, it didn't put them off. And then he had compassion on him. Something deep inside him, gets moved here. And we still aren't clear on the identity of the man who's been beaten up the only identity now we've got is on a Samaritan came there in terms of this relationship. So So now the emphasis is on the Samaritan not really on the man. Yes, yes. And actually, it's the actions of that Samaritan that Jesus is drawing the attention to

David Harvey  37:26  
the three fold formats really interesting is Rosen. The priests saw him the illevate saw him, the Samaritan saw him so all three of them encounter the same thing. It strikes me john, that there's this is more of an aside comment for a moment, but uh, but I want to make it Luke's you know, Luke is a Greek writer. He's, you know, he's not Jewish. You know, we know this from, from from various things that we can sort of discern from Luke and Acts. He's clearly well educated in Jewish systems, however. And should I just make a couple of side comments to get to the comment I want to make but you know, even like little things, I think are fascinating. And Luke's Gospel just for the person that wants to dig around deeper. A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho that suggests he has some knowledge of the geography of the area because if you go from Jerusalem to Jericho, it is just downhill right that says, he was set upon by most translations have robbers and there's a long history as to why that word is translated to robbers and you have to go back into the King James to do that. The word is laced taste right. In in Matthew's Gospel, it's the same word used to define the two people that are crucified beside Jesus, right. The word in Josephus the Josephus consistently describes the Zealot insurrectionists. as least as right. So there's quite a lot of evidence to suggest that that least tests are are terrorists, really, they're they're insurrectionists in from the perspective of the, of the ruling classes. So Josephus is writing as a Jewish person trying to win the Romans over at some level. So so he writes, what's the Roman perspective? So they're laced, he's now it's interesting, that the from best I can deduce, King James, who was obviously the king was slightly uncomfortable with the use of insurrectionist of because that exposes the fact that only insurrectionists are crucified, two types of people are crucified, right, insurrectionists and slaves. So we don't really want to draw attention to the fact in a kind of, you know, political history of UK at that particular time that Jesus was clearly not a slave, so was executed as an insurrection. And so you end up with this language of the more softer translation of robber being the common one. However, it is known that the Zealot insurrection this often did hang around in that road from Jerusalem to Jericho, and basically that's how they funded their campaigns was just rob off with people Who? You know who we're passing through that road? It's known to be a dangerous road.

John Andrews   40:04  
Well, actually, yeah, I would just jump in and say, I've actually seen that road. So I've had the privilege of being in Israel three times, but you didn't get robbed. No, didn't get rolled. Because I was on a lovely air conditioned bus. The first two times on on the way up to Jerusalem, from Jericho was one of the routes that we went when allowed us to see what was what was accepted as probably the route that Jesus was referring to. And it's extremely isolated, extremely vulnerable. If you were caught there on your own. You are in big trouble. Yes. And it's it's praying you like, there's no way you'd want to be traveling on that road on your own?

David Harvey  40:50  
Yes, I'm imagining something from one of those scenes in the early Star Wars movies, where somebody can jump out from behind a rock, Rob you and be back behind the rock before you've even realized.

John Andrews   41:00  
Yeah, yeah. And there's just, it's whole stretches of that road completely exposed. So no housing, there's no villages, there's new times it's it's very, very exposure wouldn't want to travel on your own, you would want to travel in a caravan. So the fact that the man is traveling on his own, remember, it's a made up story. But the chances are, Jesus is probably you know, they've read this in the news. I mean, this stuff happens a lot. And so it would be a made up story, but rooted in truth.

David Harvey  41:30  
Think. Absolutely. So this is interesting is the Luke's reflecting the story to us with a lot of detail that, you know, suggests some, you know, some real kind of firsthand eyewitness, whoever Luke's sources is telling the story as it as it was told, which is fascinating. But then the second part of this real contextual piece, so you get this, this is an accurate depiction, this sort of thing happens there, you know. So, you know, I remember some years ago, being in Chicago with a friend and we got lost, and ended up traveling through a particular part of Chicago. And then we got back to the people that were staying with the next morning over breakfast, they said, Did you have a nice evening in the city? And we said, Oh, yeah, we did. I said, we got a little lost on the way home and we ended up at coming through this particular area, and their faces went like drained of colors. They said that they said you you went where? And we said we went to that Syria, and they were oh my goodness, you know that, you know, you know, and so the area had a reputation The road to Jerusalem to Jericho has a reputation. But then the second little contextual color piece is this choice of, of priest, Levi, and just snow in the temple. You see, there are kind of three groups of people who are commonly referred to as serving there. This priest is Levi, ah, and there's lay people. And there's some evidence, I think, again, this is this is me reading Kenneth Bailey, if I recall correctly, of my source here, but you create quite a lot of Jewish stories of this time period, hold this three person format, like, you know, you and I have both lived growing up with the other end of kind of Englishman Irishman Scotsman jokes, and stuff like that. And, and they always seem to be taught by the English people about the Scots people and the Irish people, right? But But if somebody starts a story with, you know, an Englishman, an Irish you know what the next one is, it's a Scotsman. So if I say, an English, an Irishman, and a Russian, went into a bar, usually women, that doesn't sound right. So there's an interesting sense that when Jesus says, a priest, illevate, his listeners all know who the third person is going to be. And so you're almost thinking, I think, if you're listening to this story, for the first time, go, I get what he's doing here, the super religious person didn't help but the regular good Jewish person is going to come and help the situation here. He's going to, he's going to be the hero, because that's how that story format works. So it's really interesting that for me that we catch the controversy, the twist, the sense that Jesus just an Englishman, an Irishman, and a Russian, you know, a priest, a Levi, and, you know, and I think to grasp this job to grasp it, you've almost got to think about who is like I think if you're telling the story in the modern times, who's our Samaritan, you know, everything because this late to the listener? This is a huge shock, right? This is a this is a Christopher Nolan inception, you know, attended tight twist that Whoa, my goodness, how is how is this character even in this story? And the moment Jesus has introduced this person, you're now thinking, well, I don't know how this story is going to go anymore. Because Because I thought I knew the format of the story we were telling. And now, now, I'm just like, it's the roller coaster has gone over the top. Our seatbelts have all fallen off, we're plummeting, out of control into this, is that how you kind of feel?

John Andrews   44:51  
Absolutely. I think when Jesus when when Jesus just goes a Samaritan, or whatever, I think at that moment, Do you have collective intake of breath? I think you've got shark. And I'm the expert in the law, who is an extremely clever man. Remember, this expert knows the Torah, he will have been trained in argumentation, he knows how that corner someone he knows the chess pieces to move in order to checkmate you in any argument. As soon as Samaritan comes out of his mouth. The expert knows where this is going. He knows he is stuffed. Right. And I think I think you get the sense of it, David, because when then Jesus towards the end, sort of ask the question again, which is absolutely incredibly says, which of these three do you think? I mean, it's like, well, I mean, there's no thinking about it. There's no, there's no supposing here. But Jesus has no set the trap. This, this slightly, potentially arrogant expert of the law, in your analogy has gone back into the tiger's cage to have another go. And Jesus goes, let's, let's do this. Let's do this. And so he introduces a Samaritan tells the story, and this expert in the law is probably looking for the exit as quickly as possible. If he can get out of there, he would have done at that point. But of course, he's stuck, because he's got to wait to the end of the story. Because he's asked the question, Who is my neighbor? Well, you can't leave halfway through the story. And so Jesus goes, Okay, I love the way it's phrased here. Which of these three do you think? Is the neighbor? No. Now look at the answer, the expert of the Lord replied, the one who had merciless, great. He can't even use the S word. He can't even say, Samaritan. Because he's completely cornered. He's been hard on Jesus. And a stroke of genius hasn't set out to trap the young man. I mean, there's no there's nothing in the text that says that Jesus is toying with him, the young man has continuously pushed. So every time Jesus knocks it back, right, what do I have to do? Okay, what does the law say? How do you read it? Here's how I read it. Right? Bring it down, sir. Go into it. And but the young man pushes again. And he says, right, who is my neighbor, Jesus was okay. I see what you're doing here. So let me tell you a story. And, and as soon as Samaritan is introduced to the narrative, everybody in the story, you don't need to be the smartest person in the room to know where this is going. And where this is gonna land. And of course, what is quite shocking, David is that Jesus is suggesting that the Samaritan is practicing in a, in a kind of say, perfect sense. He's practicing in a perfect sense the Torah. He is putting if if the expert of the law says, love God with all your heart and love your neighbors yourself, then Jesus has just demonstrated that a Samaritan has done exactly what you said he needed to do to live. Therefore, of course, then this doesn't this this now. But then therefore, is that possible, then as we head towards some area, as we head towards enemy territory? Is it possible? Is it possible Samaritans could keep Moses? Is it possible that Samaritans could do this and live? Because that's the unasked question. In this, that's the honest question in the conclusion to this parable. And of course, Jesus, in answer to the experts answer says, Yeah, would you go and do the same? The one who, you know, he says the one who had mercy, okay, you go and do the same? Yeah, go and do what he did. So So no, not only this is a Samaritan, the hero in the story, but notice, Samaritan is held up as an example of Torah

David Harvey  49:15  
is the prototype, isn't he? Absolutely.

John Andrews   49:18  
It's like, okay, you want to see how it works? follow the example of the Samaritan.

David Harvey  49:23  
Yes. Yes,

John Andrews   49:25  
I can. That's shocking. Absolutely.

John Andrews   49:29  
it's it's contrary I think, I think by that I mean there's no reaction in the Gospel of Luke here and your stories you know, as we've reflected before we get to heaven maybe we will get to see heaven flexor sudden, and, and I would love to go to rape is the resection on what the decried look like at the end of that story. Because I just think people God, did he just say what I think he just did he just like, where does the expert of the law go at this point? He's like, absolutely. He whacked by the sun. Yet by his own wisdom, he's been on dawn by his own hubris in some ways, in this context, incredible. I just found that magnificent

David Harvey  50:14  
circle back round for a second, a diverse 36. I always am frustrated when I read this in English translations, and I never ever I don't you know, I always I always used to say to my students, we used to talk about the light of the original language behind the text and the students say, is it worth learning the original languages? And of course, I want to say yes, but at the same time, I also don't want to, you know, English translations are very, very good, you know, but every now and again, as is the case, when you move from English or French or German to Spanish or whatever, you lose sometimes just a little bit of something because the translator has to make decisions, don't they? And I just would if I was reading verse 36, which of these three Do you think I even like the idea of the way that the Greek word there that is translate think could even be suppose a glove though? Which of these three do you suppose but I think a more accurate reading of the text there is, is this, instead of we're often says, which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man, just look at the Greek for a second, it's, it's, I think it's more proper to read it, which of these three became a neighbor to the man, right. And I noticed a lot of the commentators so again, you don't need to go and become a, you know, Bible language experts grab any of the commentaries, they start to pick up on this sort of language. The cat is Bailey in his in his wonderful Jesus through, you know, Middle Eastern eyes, you know, like, these books will just point that out to you without you having to learn these things. But which of these became a neighbor? And I love that, that, that's I and that's just why I think it's almost missed if we don't translate it that way. The point is, was the Samaritan, the man's neighbor? The answer is actually no, he wasn't been annoying, you know, any definition that you come up with neighbor, this Samaritan could theoretically end up outside of it, you know, is my neighbor, the person that lives in the house next door to me is the neighbor that this person that lives opposite me, is it somebody that's in my community, could be a neighbor, be someone from my city, you're going to draw, as soon as you start trying to define something, you're going to have to draw a line somewhere. And, and so I think there's real power in translating this, which of these three Do you think became a neighbor, so I'm hearing Jesus almost say, by rights, all three of them could leave them alone, if you want to define a neighbor, the possibilities, you could draw a circle that would let all three off the hook to say this man is not my neighbor, I don't need to love him. In the same ways I love myself, right? But Jesus actually chooses to show that know what the Samaritan does is he rejects drawing a line, and rather chooses to become a neighbor to the person have the I was reading in in one of the kind of famous Bible Dictionary from the early 20th century, one of the writers on on the word neighbor that's used just simply says this of the New Testament, he says, He says, one cannot define one's neighbor in the New Testament, one can only be a neighbor. And I love that sense. And so Jesus is actually saying to that almost to the man, well, you can't exclude the Samaritans like you, it's possible to draw a line that excludes them. Or you can choose not to, you know, and now you start to see what sort of making sense of the whole story as it's sort of, as it's sort of filling out around that. And this sense of, you almost know, harking back to the original interchange about love, don't you that, that love becomes a choice. It's a, it's the verb that's driving this whole story, that the man chooses to, to beat to the Samaritan story chooses to help this person. So love is this active component in this process, it's not something that happens. It's not something that's forced upon him, it's nice if he goes are well, under the rules of the law, this man, this person, I need to help them. So it's my duty. There's none of that in this this. This, to me seems like if I'm reading that final verse 36, you know, correctly, and the Greek to me seems quite clear on it. Which of these became a neighbor, you're basically the man has actively chosen to go beyond what is what is imposed upon him. He only does this on his own free will. And in some sense, you can get that from the story because all of a sudden, he's using his own oil and wine, his own bandages, his own animal, his own money, you know, his own time. You know, this man has gone far beyond any expectations of him. It's quite, it's quite stunning.

John Andrews   54:55  
It's magnificent. It's magnificent. Of course. There is that A beautiful link into, like, the idea of this is not just this Jesus leaning into this not just an act of goodness to a neighbor. But this is an expression of love for God. So you know, can I can a person who doesn't know, God be good to their neighbor, of course they can. But in the context of which Jesus is ministering, he is forcing a connection between the idea of loving God and loving the people around you. And the two cannot be separated. And by implication, he's, he's, I think, suggesting that in loving his neighbor, the man is also showing awareness and love. For Adonai. He's He's showing awareness and love for God Himself, which is an even in the context of, of this story, of course, it's even an even more radical, sort of potential interpretation. He's not just being a good bloke, you know, because any, any, even a bad person can be a good bloke once in their life, you know, but But actually, the context is, he's doing something and even the way he does it, the the way he invests himself into it, the way he, as it worked fields, when he's doing it is suggesting, in the language that Jesus has put it into this text, that this isn't just a man, in an act of altruism. This is a man motivated by a passion and love for God Himself. And so Jesus is, is drawing in this parable, these two ideas together, which of course, I think the trajectory of the New Testament picks up, you know, john says, You can't claim to love God who you've never seen, and then hit your brother, who you do see, you know, those are contradictory ideas, the idea that we can have a sort of compartmentalized spirituality, regard is in one bit, and may may behavior to humans is it another, but the whole idea of biblical spirituality, right through the text is one of our holistic behavior. And I think that's why the Torah is explicit in saying, even in a what we would say, as Christians, an Old Testament context, love God, love your neighbor, love the stranger. It does show a distinct of this because people draw those lines. And, and the Lord is, in fact, saying, if you draw the lines, then you're actually not understanding the call to love God Himself. And that call will always demand that we cross the road to that person, regardless of what label that person has on them. And I, I think, I think like so many parables, which we've touched on, I think there are multiple nuances to this, there's a, there's a very simple answer to this. There's also other things that that lean into this. And, you know, for me, that's, that's really at the heart of it, that loving God and loving your neighbor are inseparable ideas. They must never ally, a spirituality to develop in me that, that applauds one without the other. And, you know, I think in some ways that may have been what the religious community were guilty of. And Jesus accuses them of his his or her the piety to God, but ignoring their neighbor,

David Harvey  58:42  
I think it's Walter Brueggemann, a great Old Testament scholar, who says that in the Old Testament, love of God is always worked out as love of neighbor, the two are inseparable, you know. And I think I think that's a problem even for us in the contemporary context, there can be, you know, in contemporary church, there's almost a sense of, well, let's all get serious about worshiping and loving God. And once we've done that, well then think about, you know, mission and, you know, if you think about a lot of churches, the whole structure is a, b, and then C is mission C is how do we go in love our neighbor? And, and there's almost this sense that that the Old Testament, Jesus and all these are saying, No, actually just go start loving your neighbor and, and that and that's, that's the controversy of the parable, isn't it? Jesus, like, all you want to see neighborliness. So therefore, you know, implicitly and that is, let me tell you a parable about somebody who loved God with all their heart, their mind, their soul and strength, and oh, guess what? It's a Samaritan. You know, so there's this issue. So we would often go over that the ideal is first figure out loving God, then figure out how loving your neighbor and I just think that the Old Testament has set up the basis that Jesus builds on and as you say, it's john writes in his letters, actually. loving your neighbor comes from a deep love of God that's already in your heart. And that sort of works out. But if you don't love your neighbor, there's severe questions to ask about in a non judgmental way, but about whether you actually really love God, you know, and then that kind of starts to loop around all sorts of stuff about the image of God doesn't if, if humans are made in God's image, then there's a level of which of course, our love for the image of God and each other, reflects our love for God Himself,

John Andrews   1:00:29  
isn't it? Oh, definitely. And again, you know, for listeners who may not be followers of Jesus, we're not saying that people who don't follow Jesus can't love their neighbor. But what we're saying is, if you claim to love Jesus, you should love your neighbor, you know, so, so, like, you don't need faith to love your neighbor. But if you claim to have faith, you should love your neighbor. But I mean, that's the point. So I can't, I can't divorce my, my vertical love, from my horizontal responsibility. And the more I create a world that allows that separation, the more dangerous my religion becomes. I think so. So as we lean into some of the other parables, as we touch on the last things and episodes to come, I think you've got Jesus leaning more and more into this and unchallenging. The religious community, you can't stand apart from people, you've got to engage with people. And that actually is a way of demonstrating you love God, by treating them with dignity, respect, and helping them in their lostness to be found,

David Harvey  1:01:45  
you know, in one sense, there's a level of, you know, if somebody you know, okay, so maybe I don't follow Jesus, but I'm interested in follow Jesus, what should I do? Well, amongst the many things, that now and we're always cautious about saying, what should I do, because this is a grace enterprise? And that's how that lawyer got in trouble in the first place with the question, what should I do, but maybe loving your neighbors a good place to find God, you know, and, and explore that. But that is interesting, john, just thinking about that, if we're not careful, we can easily start to interpret this parable, then as essentially, hey, do good works. You know, the secret is do good works. And I think it's worth doing a couple things. One, the initial question about eternal life is kind of solved. And that's you've answered, orthodox Leave your answers fine, right? If you want to know how to live the god life, how to live as if God's kingdom is already how to live as part of God's kingdom. Love your neighbor, love God. Right? And but then the second question, though, becomes, so what, who is my neighbor, and you get the sense of the care and the concern for your, for your neighbor, we've got to be careful of not sending out that Jesus comes away and basically says, so therefore, as long as you do these things, you get saved, right? Because that would undermine Luke's grace narrative that actually, Jesus has come to rescue us, if there is any rescuing happening. It's purely as a result of Jesus's grace. But if we're going to have a conversation of what neighborliness looks like, then we're going to have this parable. I just wonder, john, if that point is subtly alluded to, in Luke's positioning of the very next story, which is Marian, where you have you have one person who's working hard to make it all right, and one person who just wants to learn from Jesus. And, and I don't know, you know, maybe I'm overdoing it. But I just wonder if there's something there that's worth just paying attention to.

John Andrews   1:03:44  
Yeah, I it does exist, you know, absolutely no harm to us to that is an interesting, again, unique looking insertion. So the story of Mary and Martha, as we have it in Luke 10, doesn't appear anywhere else. We know that that relationship is alluded to in other gospels. So the fact that it follows this story, is that Dr. Luke, just stuff on that end, because you know, it does say

David Harvey  1:04:14  
that he had space under pay. Yeah.

John Andrews   1:04:16  
Jesus and his disciples were on their way. And so if they are heading so thin, they're heading into Bethany, which is a couple of miles from Jerusalem. So this is a beautiful stop off point. Or, or also, is there something going on within the nuance of this that actually, you've got a beautiful family that loved Jesus, and Jesus clearly loves them and is it wonderfully, a wonderful intimate relationship with the three of them, the brothers at the two sisters and a brother. And yet there is a there is a almost a franticness in Martha, which I totally understand. I'm more of a Martha in the way I'm wired. Donna Mary. But there is a there is a rest in Mary, that embraces the glorious moment Martha believes she has to be doing in order to show her love for Jesus, which is absolutely wonderful. Whereas Mary is taking in the best sense of the phrase full advantage of Jesus here by simply experiencing the glorious moment. And I think that is one of the tensions, what must I do? Tell Mary to do get her to help me do. And I think humans are always leaning into the do. So, whatever, whenever we talk about doing we must understand that in the context of grace, and receiving and doing as an expression of something that is that is actually fundamental in our world, rather than a getting up something that whatever goodness I do, it is an expression of the goodness I have received, whatever grace I give is an expression of the grace I've received, etc.

David Harvey  1:06:04  
Well, what we do is, what we do is a response, not an earning exact it, that's the you know, and that's where we get so messed up. As soon as you start thinking, Well, I do this, you know, and even this comes to, you know, we'll see this when we get to the parables of the last things, even when that comes to repentance. You know, everything that we do is a response. You know, I love, great New Testament scholar, Jael Martin just made, the image of God always moves first. So everything that we do is a response, you know, so we don't earn it, we don't gain it. So when there is things to do, and there is things to do, God has called us to do things, but don't think they get you any better status with God, this is a response to encountering grace.

John Andrews   1:06:50  
So I've seen beautiful, no, absolutely would totally concur with that. And I think that is the essence of, of the heart of faith, in response to his grace that we respond, we do because of what has been done. And we give because of what we have received, it's freely you have received, therefore free to give. And I think if we hold on to that framework, and are doing this, then it allows us to capture the best of all worlds, and protects us from turning works into some sort of badge of honor, or standard of living within our faith.

David Harvey  1:07:34  
I love asking this question. And I keep asking it, whenever I read a parable, who am I in this parable? And, and it's interesting that I want to be the Samaritan. That's who I want to be I I'm depressed to a note that probably too often, I'm the priest and invite. But I also wonder if there's a nuance to the parable, where actually, I'm the guy be up on the road? You know, and ultimately, I want what do I need to do? The lawyer says, What do I need to do to inherit eternal life? And if I step back and just let Luke across to magnificent volumes of Luke, in Acts, with the answer to that question is, we don't need to do anything. You just need to accept that you're beat up on the side of the road, right? You know, you need grace, that's actually where you are, you want to be the giver of grace. But before you get to be the giver of grace, you have to accept that you are first the receiver of grace that you are you and so how do you align yourself with the person left half dead? And is there a resonance to Jesus there, that we actually by the end of this gospel, we see Jesus not half dead, fully dead. So the way of the cross is first accepting, you know, actually, I need I need help, you know, and some of the systems that I think will help me won't help me You know, there's so there's a way again, to turn the kaleidoscope and just see the parable slightly differently, you know, that, that you might think helps coming from there, you might think it's coming from there, it's actually coming from a different, a different place. And, and that's when I find myself resonating them with Mary and Martha story some more, because I want to I want to fight, I want to be the doer. I want to be the doer. And it's almost as if the gospel is just constantly saying to me, well, you can be a doer. But first, you got to be a receiver. No.

John Andrews   1:09:26  
Oh, perfect. Perfect. Absolutely. And in many ways, we are operating out of something we've received, which is is that it I think it's the heart of the law. I think it's the heart of Torah.

David Harvey  1:09:38  
There's even a whole underlying monotheism to it all isn't there? You know, I love Paul's comment in in Romans three, you know where, where he says this for my favorite moments of Paul and argumentation where Paul just says, well, it's cotton also the God of the Gentiles and which of course The answer for any good Jewish monotheist there is only one God, I say every day, the answer has to be Yes, either the Gentiles have no God, or they have another god, or they have the only God. And when we don't believe in other gods, we don't believe it's possible that there is no God for a person. So we're actually cornered into admitting, well, if God's The only God and our God, he must also be their God. So there's that underlying resonance of, if you're going to love the Lord your God, you're going to love him and all the forms that he comes in, you know, which means in all the neighbors that you encounter that carry his image, you know, that's, it's quite, it's got some real, some real resonance to it, isn't there of for us today, I think john is just, you know, it's, it's, there's so much division in the world. True. True.

John Andrews   1:10:52  
I know, you know, for us to recognize that in the Samaritan. Something was there, that most of the people in that crowd would have said, wasn't there. And Jesus is saying, you know, by, by his behavior, we are seeing that something deep of the truth of God's grace is within this man. And therefore, we we look at his actions and ask, okay, what does that mean? And we're drawing into something deeper. And I think if we're prepared to be open to that, and not simply fall into the trap of labels, but allow ourselves to go on journey with people in conversation with people. I think we will be surprised sometimes by who has wiped who knows what and who is what. Rather than making the sorts of very generic and sometimes generalized conclusions about people, which I think are deeply unhelpful when it comes to engaging with them in a neighborly way.

David Harvey  1:12:02  
And of course, that comment about identity. It just makes me want to end on the bombshell that we haven't we've got through this whole talk and not mentioned is there's just one thing that is never said in the whole parable. Yeah. Are you with me? Yes, I

John Andrews   1:12:22  
am. No words. Is this as good? Yeah.

David Harvey  1:12:27  
Yeah. Yeah. That's absolutely true. One thing that's not said in the parable, is that the Samaritan is good. Yeah. And on that bombshell. Yeah.

John Andrews   1:12:41  
We'll leave it there.

David Harvey  1:12:46  
Okay, that's it for Episode Six. Thanks so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed it. If you want to get in touch with either office about something we said you can reach out to us on podcast at two texts.com or by liking and following to text podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you did enjoy the episode, we'd love it if you left a review or comment where you're listening from. And if you really enjoyed this episode, why not share it with a friend. Don't forget you can listen to all our podcasts at to text calm, or wherever you get your content. But that's it for this episode. We will be back tomorrow. But until then, goodbye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai