ON THE ROAD TO JERICHO

"My father, a printer, worked long and hard practically every day of his life. I’m certain that on the Sabbath he would have enjoyed just being at home. Rather, he visited elderly family members and brought cheer into their lives. One was his uncle, who was crippled by arthritis so severe that he could not walk or care for himself. On a Sunday afternoon Dad would say to me, ‘Come along, Tommy; let’s take Uncle Elias for a short drive.’ Boarding the old 1928 Oldsmobile, we would proceed to Eighth West, where, at the home of Uncle Elias, I would wait in the car while Dad went inside. Soon he would emerge from the house, carrying in his arms like a china doll his crippled uncle. I then would open the door and watch how tenderly, and with such affection, my father would place Uncle Elias in the front seat so he would have a fine view while I occupied the rear seat. The drive was brief and the conversation limited, but oh, what a legacy of love! Father never read to me from the Bible about the good Samaritan. Rather, he took me with him and Uncle Elias in that old 1928 Oldsmobile along the road to Jericho."  (President Thomas S. Monson, Hallmarks of a Happy Home, Ensign, Nov. 1988, p 70,71)".

"....A certain man went down to Jerusalem from Jericho, 

and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, 

and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead" (Luke 10:30)

When a certain lawyer wishing to test Jesus, to see how He as a Rabbi would answer one of the points of debate in the Rabbinical schools, he asked Him the following question: "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25). Jesus recounted to Him a parable in which He, by no chance, made the hero of the story a Samaritan. Jesus asked the lawyer what was written in the law of Moses regarding his question and the lawyer answered perfectly: "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" (Luke 10:27). The question, however, had not been asked to gain information but rather in the hope that Jesus would not give the right answer, Him not being a qualified Rabbi (John 7:15). When Jesus therefore affirmed the truth of the lawyer's answer, the lawyer pressed him further by asking Him who exactly was 'my neighbour'. This too was asked in an effort to discredit Him, for he knew full well that Jesus and the other Rabbis differed widely as to who fell in the category of a neighbour as Jesus had taught His followers: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love your neighbour and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matt 5:43,44) . To the Jews, their neighbours were the members of the House of Israel and no other. The Gentiles and all who opposed the Jewish people were considered enemies. The Saviour constructed the Parable of the Good Samaritan in such a way because centuries after Moses issued the law to 'love thy neighbour', the rabbis, in laying down for the people narrow and uninspired interpretations of this command, wrote the following: "We are not to contribute to the death of the Gentiles, but if they are in any danger of death we are not bound to deliver them, e.g. if any of them fall into the sea you need not take him out, for such a one is not thy neighbour." (Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, p. 751).  By the time Jesus was born the hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews, which had been growing for centuries, was at its peak. The Samaritans were a mixed people, in whom the blood of Israel was mingled with that of the Assyrians and other nations thus they were not recognised as pure Israelites by their Jewish neighbours ("The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p. 38). "To the orthodox Jew of the time, a Samaritan was more unclean than a Gentile of any other nationality" (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 172) hence a Samaritan could never be considered a neighbour.

Not only did the Saviour discredit the Rabbinic law of his day by the Parable of the Good Samaritan pointing out rather blatantly that both the priest and the Levite within the story had dishonoured their priesthood and brought disgrace upon their nation by not assisting their fellowman in most dire need but he elevated the hated Samaritan, who was considered an enemy, to the status of a neighbour who chose to make a half-dead Jew his brother (McConkie, The Mortal Messiah Book 3, p. 179). When Jesus asked the lawyer: "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?", the lawyer could not deny that this honour belonged to the Samaritan who showed mercy.

As we travel through life, we will find ourselves on the road to Jericho, from time to time, on which we will encounter many people with different needs; beggars on the street, struggling single mothers, grieving widows, abused children, impoverished families and men, women and children of all nationalities and of all races. The Parable of the Good Samaritan invites us to ask ourselves who we consider to be our neighbour. It is easy to love the lovelies but not so easy to love those with differing views, those who do not live up to our standards, those who mock us or revile us or even those who purposefully hurt us or those who are just plain 'different'. Do we elevate ourselves above others deeming them unworthy of our association or do we actively seek out those in need, no matter how lowly they might seem? Do we allow prejudice or racism to dictate our actions towards our fellowmen? The Saviour made no distinction between those He served. He associated with publicans and sinners alike and those who needed Him most. And when He atoned for us, He atoned for us all, without any exceptions. When we stood in line to receive His redeeming grace, we all received an equal portion, there was no favouritism there. And when we return home to receive our reward, we will find ourselves amongst black and white, rich and poor, small and great; in short, all who constitute the human family. May we reach out to each other in brotherhood and love that we may be found worthy to one day inhabit together our Father's Kingdom  reserved for the merciful, and the kind, and the loving and the humble and the penitent. 

"Bishop Victor L. Brown told this story to employees of the Church Education System on 9 September 1983. A lesson [on the Good Samaritan] was in a seminary class . . . in Korea. The sequel is told about a student who was in that class. This boy’s father was a physician and a rather affluent man. One day one of the father’s friends called and asked if he were having financial difficulty. His response was that everything was fine. “But why do you ask?” The friend said, “I saw your son selling newspapers on the street corner in Seoul the other day.” The father replied, “It couldn’t have been my son. He has a liberal allowance and has no need for additional money.” The friend said, “I walked up to him and talked to him, and it was your son.” When the boy got home from school that day, his father asked him about the incident. He indicated that he had been selling newspapers. His father asked, “Isn’t your allowance sufficient? Do you need more money?” When the son responded that his allowance was adequate, the father asked, “Then why are you selling newspapers?” He said, “There is a boy in our class at school who comes from a very poor family, and he must have help if he is to stay in school. Each week I have taken my allowance and bought newspapers. I, along with some of my friends, sell the newspapers and give the money to this boy so he may remain in school.” In addition the son had asked his mother to increase the size of the lunch she packed for him each day. She didn’t question him about this; I suppose she thought that as a growing teenager, he was just extra hungry. He told his father that this boy from the poor family went hungry, so he shared his lunch with him. The father asked, “Why are you doing these things?” He replied, “In seminary we have been studying the lesson of the Good Samaritan. I didn’t just want to know what the lesson taught intellectually. I wanted to know how it felt to be a Good Samaritan.”