“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear, only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.” Exodus 21.18, 19

A man had been beaten. He was wounded and unable to care for himself. Justice demanded that he be restored to health and that those responsible be made to cover his expenses, as well as restore what they had stolen from him.

But it was not likely that those who had perpetrated violence against this man would ever be discovered. Would justice languish and neighbor-love fail?

Hardly. Jesus showed how a Samaritan – the least likely of people to care for a wounded Jew – took it upon himself, without need of law or other compulsion, to restore justice on behalf of the wounded man. He did not owe the man anything. The priest and Levite who crossed the road and refused to help the wounded man doubtless considered that this was not their problem; they did not commit the crime, so they owed the man nothing in the way of help. They could persuade themselves, perhaps, that they were only following the letter of the Law.

But the Samaritan understood the larger demands of justice and was willing to sacrifice his own convenience and material bounty so that the higher and greater demand of justice and neighbor-love might be fulfilled.

In so doing the Samaritan did not require some legal code or judicial mandate. Nor did he condone any patently sinful practices. He did what was in his power to do, given the circumstances before him. Jesus commands His followers to practice obedience to His Law in just this same way (v. 37).

T. M. Moore

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