01/09/2023
The Good Samaritan is a well-known parable of Jesus. Many great preachers and scholars have interpreted it carefully over the years. The interpretations range from Augustine’s allegorical approach to Talbert’s narrative criticism. This essay attempts to decipher the parable’s main point within its context. So, what is so good about the Samaritan in Jesus’ story? “Mercy.” The Samaritan showed mercy to Jew, his arch-enemy. Jesus told the legal expert who questioned him to “do likewise” to his rivals: the lawbreakers. After interpreting the text, the paper engages with scholars and applies the main points in the Indian context with the story of Adhiratha, Karna’s foster father, in mind.
Our thesis is that Jesus used this parable to admonish his rival law teachers who showed no mercy to the backsliders (sinners and tax collectors). The point of the parable is, perhaps, the insensitivity or lack of love of the ministers. Perhaps Jesus wanted the law experts to heal the broken-hearted Jews instead of implementing rules scrupulously. Many Jews fell from grace due to Roman oppression and poverty and chose a less-than-ideal lifestyle as prostitutes and tax collectors. Perhaps the man who traveled “down to (cursed) Jericho from (blessed) Jerusalem” is a wielded reference to such people. As the man “went down,” the robbers (dark forces) took him down. No one showed him mercy but a hated Samaritan. Manoj Kumar Khatore
The Good Samaritan is a well-known parable of Jesus. Many great preachers and scholars have interpreted it carefully over the years. The interpretations range from Augustine’s allegorical approach to Talbert’s narrative criticism. This essay attempts
