The Good Samaritan: Parables of Jesus Christ
"Evaluate Contrasting Exegetical Approaches to Luke 10:25-37 the "Good Samaritan".
The story of the Good Samaritan is one of the most well known parables of Jesus Christ. The writer will evaluate contrasting exegetical approaches that have been used by four scholars in interpreting the Lucan story. This essay will not consider the significance of the original meaning for today.
The Good Samaritan story is recorded in Luke 's gospel 10:25-37. Jesus told this story in response to a lawyer 's inquiry about what he "should to do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25) and "who is my neighbour?" (Luke 10:29). It is a story about a man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. He got robbed, beaten to death, and left by the roadside. A priest and a Levite travelling separately on the same road passed on the other side of the road and did not stop to help the man. Later, a Samaritan came along, stopped by and nursed the victim on the spot. He then took him to a safe place at the inn and paid for his upkeep.
One exegetical approach to this story is to examine the story 's historical context and its literary genre. An examination of the story 's historical context is crucial in discovering the events that led up to the parable being told and why the story was told. Jesus uses parables as a method to teach spiritual truths. The context shows that the lawyer is initially engaged in a legal debate with Jesus. Then there are the two religious leaders, the priest and the Levite. They are both bound by the laws of defilement (Lev 21:1-4 and Num 19:11-13), that gives them a reasonable excuse not to help the victim. The unexpected hero of the story is the despised Samaritan. Finally, Jesus challenges the lawyer to go and do as the Samaritan had done. By doing this, “Jesus is voicing a much broader universal call for a reduction in inter-group, religio-ethnic conflict" (Esler, 2000 cited in Towey, 2013: 102). This exegetical approach yields a clearer interpretation of the
The story of the Good Samaritan is one of the most well known parables of Jesus Christ. The writer will evaluate contrasting exegetical approaches that have been used by four scholars in interpreting the Lucan story. This essay will not consider the significance of the original meaning for today.
The Good Samaritan story is recorded in Luke 's gospel 10:25-37. Jesus told this story in response to a lawyer 's inquiry about what he "should to do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25) and "who is my neighbour?" (Luke 10:29). It is a story about a man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. He got robbed, beaten to death, and left by the roadside. A priest and a Levite travelling separately on the same road passed on the other side of the road and did not stop to help the man. Later, a Samaritan came along, stopped by and nursed the victim on the spot. He then took him to a safe place at the inn and paid for his upkeep.
One exegetical approach to this story is to examine the story 's historical context and its literary genre. An examination of the story 's historical context is crucial in discovering the events that led up to the parable being told and why the story was told. Jesus uses parables as a method to teach spiritual truths. The context shows that the lawyer is initially engaged in a legal debate with Jesus. Then there are the two religious leaders, the priest and the Levite. They are both bound by the laws of defilement (Lev 21:1-4 and Num 19:11-13), that gives them a reasonable excuse not to help the victim. The unexpected hero of the story is the despised Samaritan. Finally, Jesus challenges the lawyer to go and do as the Samaritan had done. By doing this, “Jesus is voicing a much broader universal call for a reduction in inter-group, religio-ethnic conflict" (Esler, 2000 cited in Towey, 2013: 102). This exegetical approach yields a clearer interpretation of the
References: Towey, A. 2013. An Introduction to Christian Theology: Biblical, Classical, Contemporary. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark. Farrar-Capon, R. 2002. Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, & Vindication in the Parables of Jesus. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. Fitzmyer, J. 1985. The Gospel According to Luke. New York: Doubleday.