Portfolio 2: Good Samaritan Interpretation

The parable of the Good Samaritan is not only a story, but a criticism of how us today, they of then, and those of time in between treat each other. The prompt for the parable is the lawyer asking Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” By this, we have already established, he is actually questioning, “and who is human?” To him and those living in his time period, your neighbor was someone within a certain city, town or other area that you lived. The priest and Levite would therefore be neighbors. The Rabbi also takes this idea of neighbor a step further by saying that some people are not his neighbors. In the parable, Jesus has the Samaritan, one who is physically and socially not a neighbor, perform a neighborly acts. This shows that everybody, including your enemy, those who don’t live near you, and those who you don’t even know, is your neighbor. Therefore, when one follows the commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” as did the Rabbi, one should extend care and comfort to everyone.