[CatherineTorpey]

We have the delight of reading the story of the Good Samaritan this Sunday. Jacqui is preaching “Love This Way.”

The scripture is the Gospel According to Luke 10:25-37.

A few quick notes:

This story is only found here in Luke, so we don’t have any other versions of this story.

A Samaritan is from what had formerly been the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In the times of the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures), it’s clear that the traditions of the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom of Israel were quite different. What we know as Judaism now is the form of the religion that was found in the South. After the conquest of the Northern Kingdom, what had been some tension between the two cultures became more pronounced, and there was real animosity. Samaritans retained the ways of worshipping Yahweh which were considered completely wrongheaded and even evil by those in the South. So a Samaritan would be considered almost like an apostate, and certainly a group which was looked down upon to Jesus’ audience.

This story also refers to a “lawyer,” which is totally different from our idea of a lawyer. The “Law” that a lawyer was expert in was the Law of Moses, aka the Torah. So a lawyer was someone with a very high degree of expertise in the Hebrew Scriptures, and so in the religious laws of the day. The New Testament refers frequently to lawyers, scribes and Pharisees – these were all quite similar in that they were true scholars of the scriptures. Jesus’ criticism of them tends to be that they are well versed in the letter of the law but their interpretations actually end up being contrary to the spirit of the law and the intention of God.

That’s all I have to say to give context for this week. Add more by replying if you want to add anything! See you at 10am!

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