As we start this new year, numerous tensions divide our churches and the nation, and even turn us against one another. So perhaps a few words about what the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us about loving our neighbor might be helpful. This post was adapted from my book,  (Lexham: Bellingham, WA: 2020), and was originally posted at .

“Good Samaritan Helps Family Stranded on Side of Road.” “Good Samaritan Funds Children’s Hospital.” “Woman Saved from Burning House by Good Samaritan.” How many times have you seen headlines like this? Stories about people who are selfless and sacrificial are wonderful and uplifting. They take us out of our doldrums and cynicism and remind us that there is still good in the world and people who will help strangers, even if it costs them dearly.

This is generally how we understand the parable of the Good Samaritan. A compassionate stranger comes to someone’s aid. However, there is much more to this parable.

Contrary to popular belief, a good Samaritan, or rather, a Samaritan, is not a person who helps someone in distress. In the biblical world, the idea that someone was a Samaritan was not nearly as pleasant or inspirational. Simply put, Samaritans were seen as traitors to their faith and were hated by the Jews.

The Samaritans were a mixed race, only partly Israelite. They were seen as having compromised the faith. They worshiped other gods and departed from the law (2 Kgs 17:24–41). They only recognized the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch.[1] They also worshiped at a rival temple built on Mount Gerazim rather than Mount Zion.

So why did Jesus make someone who was so hated the hero of the story? We begin by asking why Jesus told the parable in the first place. The entire story begins not with the parable itself, but several verses earlier, in Luke 10:25, when a lawyer comes to Jesus and wants to “test” him. He asks Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus tells him to look at the law, and the man replies that the law instructs