25 And behold, a lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Then he said to him, “What is written in the law?” How do you read? 27 Then he answered and said, “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.” 28 Then he said to him, “You have answered correctly. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Then Jesus answered and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among thieves, who stripped him and wounded him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Then it happened that a priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed on the other side. 32 And likewise Levi also, when he was at the place, came and looked, and passed on opposite him. 33 But a Samaritan as he was traveling came to him, and when he saw him he had compassion, 34 and he went and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, and set him on his beast, and went They took him to a hotel and took care of him. 35 And the next day, when he went, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him: Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return. 36 Which of these three do you think was a relative of the one who fell among the thieves?” 37 Then he said, “He who showed mercy to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “You also go and do likewise.”

Explanation of my parish bulletin:

Determining the relative was the subject of widespread discussion among Jewish Sharia scholars. The prevailing opinion was that the relative was necessarily the Jew and the outsider (the pagan who converted to the Jewish religion). In other words, kinship is the same religious (and ethnic) affiliation. This is far from the teaching of the Lord Jesus, as he sees kinship as mercy.

“A lawyer came to Jesus and said, tempting him.” A legalist is a scholar who specializes in the study of Jewish law. Why did the lawyer want to test Jesus? The Evangelist John tells us that the Jews marveled at Jesus, saying: “How does this man know the scriptures, since he was not taught” (that is, he was not taught by specialists) (John 7:15). It is natural, then, for the specialized world to seek to embarrass Jesus, seeing in him an illiterate person who dared to teach, placing himself in the position of specialists.

“What must I do to inherit eternal life? “. Did the legalist believe that fulfilling certain obligations automatically leads to eternal life? What: was written in the law? “It is as if the Lord Jesus is saying to him: How do you respond according to your specialty? Then the lawyer cited the Book of Deuteronomy, mentioning the verse, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind” (Deuteronomy 6:4), adding to it the two phrases from the Book of Leviticus, “and your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). The formula, as it was stated by the lawyer, was called “the golden rule” in the Jewish tradition, and the Lord Jesus mentioned it in another topic, saying: “On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40).

“You answered correctly, ‘Do this and you will live.’” The Lord Jesus did not say to him: Do this and you will obtain eternal life. Rather, he repeated in the law that the person who keeps God’s statutes and judgments will live by them (see Leviticus 18:5). In his answer, the Lord Jesus did not mention eternal life because its features will become clear upon the completion of the divine plan on the cross. Eternal life is a free blessing from God, and there is no law that qualifies you to obtain it. The decision comes from God alone.

“From Jerusalem to Jericho.” The journey between Jerusalem and Jericho is approximately 27 km, and the road descends rapidly from an altitude of more than a thousand meters and passes through a hidden desert that was vulnerable to attacks by thieves and bandits.

“It happened that one of the priests was coming down... And so is Levi...” The Levite is not a priest, he is entrusted with serving the temple. The law forbade the Jew in general, and the priest and Levite in particular, from touching the body of a dead person, otherwise they would be forced to stay away from the temple service for seven days and purify themselves during it (see Numbers 19:11-16 and Leviticus 21:1). Perhaps they thought the person was dead and did not want to touch the body. Does this prohibition prevent the priest and Levite from performing the duty of mercy? God has always said: “I desire mercy, not a sacrifice, the knowledge of God, more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6, Matthew 9:13 and 12:7).

“A Samaritan was traveling by him, and when he saw him, he had compassion.” The Jews did not mix with the Samaritans, considering them unclean because they mixed with the pagans. They did not believe that Jerusalem was the center of worship, and they only accepted Moses as a prophet. They said in their popular traditions that the blood of the Samaritans was more impure than the blood of the Jews.

“He bandaged his wounds” by tearing off pieces of his clothes and binding the wounds. “And he poured oil and wine on it.” Oil is used to lubricate and numb the wound, while wine is used to disinfect it. “He carried him on his own animal,” on his own animal, as he wanted in the Greek original. Most likely, the Samaritan was a merchant who was riding an animal and placing goods on another animal. When he saw the injured person, he got off his animal and placed it on it.

“Which of these three do you think has come soon?” The question posed to Jesus was who is my neighbor. The Master answered him with a question: Which of these do you think has become a relative? You make your neighbour, if you love the other you make him your neighbour. The question then is not who is my relative, but rather which human being I can become. The answer is I go, love and serve. I walk without stopping, merciful and loving, and I do not ask the person I love about his identity, and I do not care about my closeness coming from the identity. I create kinship with what I give. “He who showed mercy to him,” said the Lord Jesus, “became a neighbor,” because kinship is a process of becoming and not a static situation. You become close to the other and the other becomes your close friend through love. You create your neighbor with mercy and love. Christianity is an embodiment of this never-ending becoming, and Jesus’ final call to the legalist by saying, “Go and do likewise,” is the call of every believer who has experienced missing God and is certain that he is close to God.

Explanation of the Lattakia Archbishopric Bulletin:

A lawyer came to the Lord asking: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer was, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul... and your neighbor as yourself.” He asked him about eternal life, and the answer was, “Love...!” As if life is love, and without love, death comes and life is nullified! In order to distinguish true love and neighbor, Jesus told us the parable of the Samaritan in which we distinguish two situations.

The first position is the position of the priest and the Levite who passed by and saw the wounded man, but they neglected him and left him in his suffering alone. They did not assault or harm him, but they did not provide him with the necessary love and care. This is also a sin because sin is not necessarily committing a bad act, but rather it is neglect and failure to perform a good act. . As for the second situation, it was the Good Samaritan who had compassion for his brother with humanity and took care of him. He treated his wounds and carried him to a safe place. Not only did he do that, but he also stayed in the hotel. Then he asked the hotel owner to take care of him and told him that he himself would return to the hotel again to check on him and pay the rest. The costs, meaning that he kept this wounded brother in his memory, left him in his thoughts and in his heart, he was preoccupied with his matter.

O beloved ones, love requires continuous follow-up and attention, because love is not a passing emotion, but rather something that lasts and is persevering in, and what I love I endure and keep in my heart, I spend my time, my life, my money and my health for him, and in this way I have become close to him and made him my neighbor.

As I convey God to him through my compassion, love, and attention, he gradually comes closer to God and comes to know Him.

This parable shows us that the mission of the Church in this world is not to throw parties or keep up with the people of the world in their thinking, but rather its mission is to provide love to all those deprived of love and those who suffer from loneliness, and to listen to tired souls in a time when you rarely find someone to listen to you! Our greatest challenge for this material age is to bear witness to the presence of love that is not of this world, which we receive from God to pour out on people whom God places on the path of our lives without distinction or discrimination. The voice of Christ to us: “Go and show mercy you also.”