The Good Palestinian

We have all heard the famous parable of "The Good Samaritan". It has become so famous in our culture that it has unfortunately lost its meaning. Despite popular belief, the point of the parable of the Good Samaritan is not to be "a good Samaritan." Jesus crafted this parable to answer a question about eternal life and love of neighbor. Jesus was speaking to Jews, and Jews and Samaritans hated one another like poison! In his parable, Jesus reveals that it is not one of 'us' (the Jews) loving 'them', but rather, 'them' loving one of 'us'. He has turned the tables and asked a very subversive question: What do you do when your enemy acts in love and treats you like a neighbor? Who proved to be a neighbor to the Jewish victim? It was the enemy, the Samaritan, who showed the Jewish victim mercy. And Jesus us commands us to do the same, for to show mercy is to enact eternal life.