The Good Samartan 6: Loopholes and Bare Minimums

In my mind, the entire parable hangs on one phrase. And not just the parable, but the entire human existence.

Verse 29: But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus had already responded and more or less concluded the conversation. But the lawyer continues. And so it's this question and the heart asking it that prompts the entire story in the first place. The man is not looking to love his God and love is neighbor with all that he has like the answer he had just given. He is looking only to justify himself. He is rule-abiding, and in so doing he is self-serving. And it's out of this inward-looking spirit that he asks the question.

"And just who exactly is my neighbor?"

He needs a more precise rule. He wants to know the requirements so that he can do it and cross it off his list; he wants to justify his action. ("Where am I obligated?") But he also wants to know the definition of neighbor so that he can get away with his excuses; he wants to justify his inaction. ("Where am I off the hook?") Like any average human, he's looking for the bare minimum to meet the requirement. Like any good lawyer, he's looking for loopholes that allow him to neglect the law whenever it suits him best. He's ignoring the spirit of the law, searching only for the letter.

We've heard this question before. We've seen this spirit before.

We heard it from the very beginning, with Cain asking, "Am I my brother's keeper?"

And we heard it even from the mouths of Jesus' disciples. Though I think the spirit was probably a bit different, it wasn't far away, with Peter asking, "How often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him?"

This is the enslaved, stingy, selfish, tight-fisted, lazy human heart. We prefer to justify ourselves in the easiest, least-costly way possible. And that's why we want precise definitions: so that we can find the closest neighbor, "love" them, cross it off our list, call it a day, go on living for ourselves, and fall asleep feeling a little more assured.

That's where Jesus is pointing: to this loophole-searching, bare-minimum-obliging, self-justifying, independent human spirit. And he's going to show us the opposite end of the spectrum.