The Man

This week in our discipleship class we took a deep dive into the story of the Good Samaritan. We reached beyond the flannel graph story of the helper and the hurt man.

Following Jesus’ conversation with the lawyer in Luke 10, that the greatest commandment is to love God with our ALL and to love our neighbor as well as we love ourselves. Jesus was asked, “who is my neighbor?”  The lawyer was looking for a loophole, hoping for permission to avoid a few, letting him off the hook for loving people outside of his chosen circle.

I offered this question to the class: Have we ever considered why Jesus pointed out that the thieves took the man’s clothing?  Yes, it may be assumed they took money, but why mention his clothes specifically?

In those ancient days, they didn’t have factories, producing daily hundreds of shirts and pants and denim jackets. It was all handmade, taking hours upon hours. Costing anywhere from 3-12 days wages for one article of clothing.

Clothes were so valuable in the ancient world that they were treated like cash. People used them to pay off loans, it was common that thieves targeted travelers specifically to steal their garments. (*See additional note below for more).

Clothing wasn’t just about the value of the shirt, but a label. Label of social status, region, and ethnic identity.

May I suggest one element of this story: By stealing his clothes, the robbers didn’t just take his wealth; they took his social marker. By leaving him naked and unconscious, the robbers turned him into an anonymous human being. His identity was entirely erased.

Jesus created a scenario where the passing Priest and Levite could not tell who the man was just by looking at him. They couldn’t immediately identify if he was a fellow Jew, a foreigner, a wealthy man, or an everyday peasant. Looking for the identity marker to determine their treatment. By not knowing—they chose to keep on walking.

The Samaritan, however, saw the man. He didn’t consider his label, his status. He was a fellow human being. His compassion for the man—initiated merciful action. He worked to bandage him and carry him to safety for healing. Even covering his expenses. I believe it is safe to say that he restored his anonymous name of “naked and unknown” to “valuable and worthy.” The hurt man was worth the Samaritans time, energy and financial cost.

May we too consider what it means to help a human being purely based on shared humanity, rather than identity association. This is rough I know! It is culturally unknown. Sadly, we often treat and sort folks like we do our pantry shelves; we rummage through, moving others aside until we see our preference and bring it forward.

True compassion is deep feeling of love and sadness for someone’s pain—but that is just a feeling. Jesus showed us it actively demands a helpful mercy-filled response. Holy Spirit help us!

Who was the neighbor to the hurt man?  “The one who showed mercy on him.”

In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds” – Hebrews 10:24)

*The value of clothing: Executioners (such as the Roman soldiers at Jesus’ crucifixion) traditionally claimed the clothing of their victims as part of their payment. It was legally referred to as spolia (spoils) or classified under laws regarding the property of the condemned.