The Good Samaritan 

Basic Info

Luke 10:30–37

The set up for the story is that a religious scholar asks Jesus how to have eternal life. They have a brief conversation about the Great Commandment (love God with all one’s heart / mind / strength / being, and love the neighbor as oneself). Then the scholar asks Jesus how to recognize who is a neighbor. Jesus then tells a parable.

In the story, a guy gets beaten, robbed, and left by the side of the road badly injured. As he’s lying there, he sees a priest coming down the road and expects the priest to help—he’s a priest after all! But the priest moves to the other side of the road and avoids the guy. The story next tells of a Levite taking similar actions. To Jesus’ audience, both the priest and the Levite are supposed to be the good guys, the guys who are reputed to love God the best, but the audience also understands that the priest and the Levite were on their way to Jerusalem to worship God at the Temple and because they had already gone through their ritual purity practices, they couldn’t risk becoming impure by touching the victim’s blood. In other words, Jesus’ audience would expect the priest and Levite to help but would also understand (if not accept) that the purity laws related to “worshipping” God interfere with this half of “loving” God per the Great Commandment.

The Samaritans, on the other hand, were the most despised race in the eyes of Jesus’ audience. The audience hated and distrusted Samaritans, so they would never expect a Samaritan to do a good deed for a Jew. In Jesus’ parable, a Samaritan comes along and not only treats the victim’s wounds but also picks him up, puts him on an animal, takes him to an inn, and pays for his care.

Jesus then asks the scholar which of the three men was neighbor to the victim. The scholar responds that the Samaritan was because he showed mercy.

What to Look For

• The extent of the victim’s injuries
• The physical characteristics of the place (crowded, desolate, rocky, grassy, etc.)
• The physical characteristics of the Samaritan (young, old, strong, weak, etc.)
• The amount of effort the Samaritan took
• The expression and gestures of the victim toward the Samaritan
• The expression and gestures of the Samaritan toward the victim
• Whether the artist makes a visual reference to God (e.g., the victim looking like Jesus, or a play of light)

Questions to Focus a General Interpretation

Is this artwork simply depicting the story of a good deed, or does it include something of society’s expectations concerning the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan?

Does the artwork make reference to the societal prejudice against the one doing the right thing?

Does the artwork depict the victim as being grateful and loving toward the Samaritan, or does it depict him with a more complex emotional profile, perhaps mixing embarrassment and surprise related to the prejudice with some genuine gratitude?

Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation

Which group(s) do you despise? Is it a racial, ethnic, or religious group? Is it a politically motivated group? Is it a migrant or refugee group? Is it a socioeconomic class (e.g., the very rich or the very poor)? Is it a group with a particular intellectual status (e.g., very educated, mentally ill, poorly educated, or mentally challenged)? Can you imagine a person from that group in the role of the Samaritan depicted in this artwork? Does such a vision weaken the power of the prejudice?

Notice the priest and the Levite (if they are depicted). Does their dilemma make sense? Are there rules or expectations in your world that interfere with you loving your neighbor?

Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation

Who were the despised people at the artist’s time and place? Does the artwork contain any reference to that group?

Does the artist include depictions of the priest and the Levite? Do they seem to reflect any particular type of person in the artist’s time and place? Is the artist thereby critiquing that group or offering an understanding of their behavior?