The Bad Samaritan

Yes, we love the parable. It is one of the two favorites among Christians. The other being the Prodigal Son.

We identify with the Samaritan. We name our institutions after him. But before we continue patting each other's backs and celebrating, let us remember what Samaritan meant during Jesus’s time.

There were at least three groups of people that were most hated and despised during Jesus’s time. Centurions, tax collectors, and Samaritans. These were the bad guys. Jesus's enemies pejoratively call him a Samaritan.

Priests and Levites were the good guys. The models of society in word and deed. They were expected to help the wounded. They did not.

The bad guy did. Ironically, to this day, the bad guys still do. Help the wounded, rescue the dying, save the half-dead. But we don't call them Samaritans anymore. We call ourselves that now. We even added a qualifier, Good Samaritan.

But, tragically, we still do not stop and help. We have even come up with the best excuses for our inaction, apathy, and indifference. Especially if the wounded is Black, Palestinian, Rohingya, LGBT, or PLHA.

The bad guys do not care about labels. They just continue helping the wounded along the world's bloody ways. And they actually have help. Innkeepers.