The Greatest Commandment

In Luke 40:25-37 we're given the narrative of wine Jesus tells the story we know as that of the Good Samaritan. Something occurred to me when reading it today.

The priest and the levite both pass the beaten man by. Now obviously, when we reach the end of the story, we see these characters as having failed to follow the commandment to "love thy neighbor," but when we consider the world of the original hearers of the story, we have to realize that it may not have initially been so cut and dry.

You see, in the days of the temple and the sacrificial system, it was the duty of the priests and levites to intercede for the people with God, and they could only do this task if they were ceremonially clean. (see 2 Chronicles 30 for an example) Part of remaining ceremonially clean was to avoid touching dead bodies. We're told that the man at the side of the road was beaten savagely. If the priest or levite had stopped to help him, only to find out that he was dead, or if they went to help him and he died in the process, they would have been made unclean, and therefore unable to help in the work of the temple interceding for the people with God. The argument could easily be made that they were simply following their responsibilities, placing the needs of the many above the needs of the few.

We have to ask ourselves, then, in the light of this image, where our priorities are. Jesus turns this sense of placing one's responsibilities over the immediate need on its head. What in our lives, in the name of propriety, or schedule, or personal desires dressed up as somehow serving the "greater need" are we placing above the service of the broken and hurting right in front of us? Are we refusing to help our neighbor because we "gave at the office?" Are we opening our eyes to the blind man or the lame woman kn our street? Are we avoiding going to our actual neighbors to share in a meal or welcome them to our home, out of some self serving sense of appropriate "respect for their privacy?" By all means, we do have a responsibility to show respect and restraint for others in some situations, but that must never come between us and spreading the word of the Kingdom of God.

What is our "greatest commandment?"