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In an offhanded way, who does Jesus’ Good Samaritan Parable primarily mean to serve? Is it primarily meant to serve God, or was it meant for Laws to set up? Some may say it was meant to serve both, but aside from the two great commandments of Jesus which summarizes the OT Law and the prophets, who are other laws under God meant to serve?
With a government under God, any law that is enacted is meant to serve the government that enacted it; to paraphrase Romans 13:1, a government that is under God is a government that exists as extension of God’s Authority. If laws are enacted by a government under God in order to ensure the government’s authority under God, it is wholly (holy?) acceptable? After all, what better way is there to inform those under such a government’s jurisdiction as to what is acceptable to God in terms of how people act?
Before Romans 13:1 came along, we had the two great commandments of Jesus which summarizes the OT Laws and the Prophets. To be sure, Jesus in Matthew 5:17–20 says he has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, not abolish them. So, for all intents and purposes, the Law and the Prophets of the OT were never meant to go away, if we read Matthew 5:17–20.
In Matthew 22:37–39, Jesus sums up the Law and the Prophets into two great Laws. The first law is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and the second is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Now in another version of the above incident, in Luke 10:28–30, a lawyer asks Jesus who his neighbor is. Does a way exist to distinguish a neighbor from someone who isn’t. For example, some may ask if any member of Hamas or Hezbollah could be a neighbor to someone who lives in Israel apart from the geographic relationship. Or can a Ukrainian consider a Russian to be a neighbor? Or, in America, could a Democrat consider a Republican to be a neighbor or vice versa?
The answer, in Luke 10:30–37, in the context of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, is that anyone who helps someone else is a neighbor to that person. No distinction is made in regard to either’s ethnic origin. So, in this context, say, even a member of Hamas or Hezbollah who gives help to an Israelite is a neighbor to that Israelite, and vice versa, regardless of what has happened before or what happens since to either party. In a related Passage, Jesus says in Matthew 5:44 to love your enemies. When the whole Bible is considered, that does not mean to attempt to love them as they’re killing you. Instead, as some commentators have alluded to, if an Israeli helps a Hamas member who has a flat tire in the road, and the Hamas member has no intention of killing that Israeli, or anyone else to the Israeli’s knowledge, this would be an example of loving your enemies.
We might consider the old movie called “The Enemy Below,” starring Robert Mitchum, to not exactly be just an idea of someone’s fantasy as far as helping an enemy in trouble is concerned. And did not the Geneva Convention call for providing for the basic needs of prisoners of war, including food? In a sense, in terms of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, that would be an example of being a neighbor to your enemy if you help them under those circumstances. And under those circumstances, the neighbor to the enemy would be deserving of the enemy’s love.
In a perhaps unexpected sense in the context of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, many Good Samaritan laws are based on loving your neighbor. But the neighbor in terms of Jesus’ Parable is the one who helps someone else. The Good Samaritan Laws, when you think of it, ensures that the person who is helped by their “neighbor” doesn’t end up suing them, nor can they be subject to punishment under the law if the neighbor’s intentions were clearly to help the person.
With a government under God, any law that is enacted is meant to serve the government that enacted it; to paraphrase Romans 13:1, a government that is under God is a government that exists as extension of God’s Authority. If laws are enacted by a government under God in order to ensure the government’s authority under God, it is wholly (holy?) acceptable? After all, what better way is there to inform those under such a government’s jurisdiction as to what is acceptable to God in terms of how people act?
Before Romans 13:1 came along, we had the two great commandments of Jesus which summarizes the OT Laws and the Prophets. To be sure, Jesus in Matthew 5:17–20 says he has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, not abolish them. So, for all intents and purposes, the Law and the Prophets of the OT were never meant to go away, if we read Matthew 5:17–20.
In Matthew 22:37–39, Jesus sums up the Law and the Prophets into two great Laws. The first law is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and the second is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Now in another version of the above incident, in Luke 10:28–30, a lawyer asks Jesus who his neighbor is. Does a way exist to distinguish a neighbor from someone who isn’t. For example, some may ask if any member of Hamas or Hezbollah could be a neighbor to someone who lives in Israel apart from the geographic relationship. Or can a Ukrainian consider a Russian to be a neighbor? Or, in America, could a Democrat consider a Republican to be a neighbor or vice versa?
The answer, in Luke 10:30–37, in the context of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, is that anyone who helps someone else is a neighbor to that person. No distinction is made in regard to either’s ethnic origin. So, in this context, say, even a member of Hamas or Hezbollah who gives help to an Israelite is a neighbor to that Israelite, and vice versa, regardless of what has happened before or what happens since to either party. In a related Passage, Jesus says in Matthew 5:44 to love your enemies. When the whole Bible is considered, that does not mean to attempt to love them as they’re killing you. Instead, as some commentators have alluded to, if an Israeli helps a Hamas member who has a flat tire in the road, and the Hamas member has no intention of killing that Israeli, or anyone else to the Israeli’s knowledge, this would be an example of loving your enemies.
We might consider the old movie called “The Enemy Below,” starring Robert Mitchum, to not exactly be just an idea of someone’s fantasy as far as helping an enemy in trouble is concerned. And did not the Geneva Convention call for providing for the basic needs of prisoners of war, including food? In a sense, in terms of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, that would be an example of being a neighbor to your enemy if you help them under those circumstances. And under those circumstances, the neighbor to the enemy would be deserving of the enemy’s love.
In a perhaps unexpected sense in the context of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, many Good Samaritan laws are based on loving your neighbor. But the neighbor in terms of Jesus’ Parable is the one who helps someone else. The Good Samaritan Laws, when you think of it, ensures that the person who is helped by their “neighbor” doesn’t end up suing them, nor can they be subject to punishment under the law if the neighbor’s intentions were clearly to help the person.
