"Go and Do Likewise"

[A reflection on the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, July 13, 2025, which can be found with this Sunday's other readings at https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/proper-10c/]

If you have not heard the Parable of the Good Samaritan (and if not, then click on the link above), you certainly have heard the term. In our common cultural consciousness we think of a Good Samaritan as someone who goes out of their way to render aid and assistance to the needy beyond the call of duty. We praise the concept of such people, but generally we do not think it necessarily applies to everyone, just those special souls with the gift of empathy and compassions (virtues now denigrated by many in America until they find themselves in need of them).

The problem is that when we read the Parable carefully the actions of the Good Samaritan are not an ideal or an aspiration or an illustration of a special sort of person. In Our Lord's words these actions are required. They are not optional. They are not applied scattershot. They are mandatory.

The setting of the story is a member of the religious establishment trying to prove whether Jesus was legitimately a prophet, an authority, maybe even the Messiah, or not. The question levied was what one had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replies that the answer lies in the Law, and then he quotes Deuteronomy (6.4-5) and Leviticus (19.18) stating that loving God with every fibre of one's being and then loving one's neighbour as one's self. To illustrate the point, Jesus tells the Parable, contrasting two members of the Israelite establishment (who obviously do not epitomize the modelled behaviour) with a member of the despised Samaritan people (who does). Jesus' point, made very clear, is that the priest and Levite, supposedly card-carrying members of the People of God and shoe-ins for eternal life failed the test. The Samaritan, supposedly outside the scope of God's salvation, passed.

Jesus then turned the question on its head and asked the establishment man before Him which one in the story fulfilled the spirit of the Law. The man answered, "The one who showed mercy," avoiding the S- word in the process, likely chagrined that he was the one painted into the corner instead of Jesus. Then Jesus answered the original question again, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" with the words, "Go and do likewise."

That is the crux of the story. That is the goal and purpose of our being. That is what it means to be created in the Image of God: doing mercy, loving one's neighbour as one's self. If we love God, if we wish to have any share in God, we must learn to be like God, and that is to love those around us, those nearby, and not with a hazy and ill-defined feeling of general good-will but with a costly, selfless outpouring of care for those around us. The rest of it is all case-study and particulars: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, relieving the plight of the poor, reaching out to the lonely, restoring dignity. It is not a case of "this is one of the things you could possibly do," but instead the mandate is, "Do this, now."

This is what Our Lord says. If we wish to have eternal life, we must show mercy to those around us. That is how we show God that we love Him.