And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denariic and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Lk 10:25-37 ESV
I find almost amazing in this passage that the "who is my neighbour?" question implies that the victim of the attack would be the Samaritan The enmity between Jews and Samaritans is not just a Sunday school story but has sound historical basis. Reversing expectations was often used by Jesus and is a common biblical theme: "the last will be first", David the youngest child etc. The road between Jerusalem and Jericho is steep and full of bends: there are many hidden valleys which would be ideal for robbers to use in order to waylay travellers.
The expectation would have been that the third person was a layman and Jesus was making a kind of anti-clerical point. However, a key point of the parable is to establish the range of people included in the word "neighbour". The word can mean "friend" but more commonly anyone you come into contact with. Note that Jews and Samaritans were neighbours in the national sense. The role reversal enables Jesus to change the focus in his final question: not so much limits of whom one should love but the importance of love being active, practical and there being no limits on whom to love or from whom to receive love.
Now we're unlikely to meet on the Jericho road but in the milieu of the forum:
1. Who is your Samaritan? (Muslims, people with opposing political views, Catholic and Protestant?)
2. What is the equivalent of being attacked on the Jericho Road?
3. What is the equivalent of walking by on the other side?
4. What is the equivalent of binding up wounds i.e. showing mercy?