The Good Samaritan Retold

My friend Ben Spackman has been engaged in a long-term blogging project of reading the Holy Bible and writing commentary. He has an advanced degree in ancient cultures and focused his work on Near Eastern cultures and scriptures. So, of course, he blogs as Benjamin the Scribe, adopting the title used in the times of Jesus Christ by those who read the scriptures and wrote commentary. I have often used his posts as a guide to my planning for my Sunday School lessons, to help me better understand the scriptural passages I will be teaching and to just further my own personal scripture study.

In one post, he wrote about the Saviour's parable of the Good Samaritan and challenged the reader to put the main characters into modern terms. While I was not home that week and wasn't teaching, the lesson was being discussed in the ward we were visiting and I found it quite timely. I've been thinking about this and decided to try my hand at a modern retelling of this well-known story. I will use the account from the Gospel According to Luke as my guide.

"And, behold, a certain Sunday School teacher stood up, and questioned him, saying, Master, what should I do to inherit eternal life?

"He said unto her, What is written in the Bible? How do you understand it?

"And she answering said, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind'; and 'thy neighbour as thyself.'

"And he said unto her, You have answered correctly: do this, and you shall live.

"But she, willing to justify herself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

"And Jesus answering said, A certain Elders Quorum President went down from Chicago to Champaign and stopped at a rest area near Kankakee. While there, he was attacked by ruffians, who beat him, stole his car and wallet, and departed, leaving him half dead.

"And by chance his Stake President was passing that way: and when he saw him, he continued on without stopping, because he had a meeting with an Area Authority Seventy in Springfield.

"And likewise the Relief Society President in his ward was also traveling to Champaign to visit old friends, and when she was at the place, she came and looked on him, but quickly continued in because it was not seemly for a woman to be alone with a man who was not her husband.

"But a certain Evangelical minister who frequently railed against Mormonism in her sermons, as she journeyed, came where he was: and when she saw him, she had compassion on him,

"And went to him, and administered first aid and called for police and an ambulance, and had him brought to a hospital emergency room, where she filed a police report.

"And while the man was in surgery, she took out her Platinum Visa card and gave it to the receptionist, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatever the cost of his medical expenses, charge it on my account, I will pay it.

"Which now of these three, do you think, was neighbour unto him that fell into adversity?

"And she said, She that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto her, Go, and do likewise."

It is so easy to say that we are too busy to help or that it isn't appropriate to do something. But is that the message of the Gospel? Is that the challenge that Christ gave his followers? Or did he radically suggest that we set aside our assumptions and our cultural norms, that we ignore the status quo, and we serve and help those in need, no matter what their circumstances and no matter how inconvenient it may seem at the time? I tend to believe that it is the latter. Reflecting on this parable and putting it into modern terms helps me think about what I can do to be a better disciple of Christ. Not because it will earn me rewards in heaven, not because it will bring about the admiration of family and friends, but simply because it is the right thing to do.