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Essay / The Theme of Care of the Stranger in The Good Samaritan
This essay will conduct an exegesis of the sacred text “The Good Samaritan” and explore the theme of care of the stranger. This is exhibited through contemporary Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's controversial work, 'Haunting', which highlights the tragedy of failing to respect the sanctity of human life. The work illustrates this by the artist posing as a lifeless Syrian child who drowned after trying to seek shelter. The worlds behind, behind, and before the sacred text must be critically analyzed to illustrate the theme of concern for the stranger. Sacred texts convey timeless ethical and moral messages about the treatment of others, which are still relevant and imperative in contemporary society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get an Original EssayIn a column in the January/February 2012 issue of Biblical Archeology Review, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine highlights the importance of understanding the time and concerns of first century Judea to understand the full significance of the story (Levine, 2012). The parable of the Good Samaritan takes place on a road from Jerusalem to Jericho. The landscape of Israel positions Jerusalem geographically higher than Jericho, meaning the road becomes progressively steeper during this journey. Taking this road to Jericho, you will encounter desert terrain, with its surroundings consisting of large barren hills and small mountains. For this reason, people were often robbed of their belongings along this stretch of road. At this time, the Jewish social structure was divided into a cultural and social hierarchy. The priest in this parable would have had a high social status, meaning he most likely rode on a donkey during his journey. Israel's Jewish Temple, located in Jerusalem, had strict laws prohibiting priests from coming within two meters of a dead body. This meant that if the man was dead and the priest touched him, he would be considered ritually impure and would be prohibited from entering the temple. The priests had to solve this problem by purchasing and sacrificing a heifer, which meant he would have to return to Jerusalem to purchase one. However, the priest could still have helped the man, because the Jewish people consider the preservation of life above respect for the law (Stower et al, 2017). Additionally, the text describes the priest as "taking this road," implying that he was traveling away from Jerusalem, the place where the temple was located. The Levites were considered priests because their main obligations were to teach the Torah and pour oil and wine on the offerings to prepare the sacrifice, meaning that Jewish law was less strict for them. Despite this, the Levite did not want to become impure because his work would have required his presence in the temple. In Jesus' day, the Samaritans were the despised enemies of the Jews because "the literature of each betrays an attitude of hostility toward the other." The Samaritan in this parable is traveling through the territory of Judea, which means he is in more danger than the priest or Levite and has more reason not to help the man who is probably Jewish. Additionally, since the parable takes place in Judah, the inn where the Samaritan takes the man is Jewish. This illustrates another risk that the Samaritan had taken because if anyone from the inn recognized him, a violent uproar could have occurred. The lack of adequate medical resources at this time resulted in the common use of wine and oil to wash and disinfect wounds. The fact that the Samaritan poured out his own wine and oil,considered valuable and revered in Jesus' time, on this man he did not make. I Don't Know illustrates the sacred text's theme of caring for the stranger. The intention of Luke's sacred text was to demonstrate how Jesus' behavior regularly ran counter to the narrow views expounded by the Book of Sirach, considered an expression of Jewish religious "wisdom" written around 200 BC ( Fallon, 2013). Michael Fallon (2013) described the Book of Sirach as a "kind of catechism on the behavior of many Jews in Jesus' day", which proposed that the next man be a pious and practicing Jew. Jesus' teachings commonly used simple analogies and folk tales to explain the behavior of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. The parable of the “Good Samaritan” offers a vision of life rather than death. Jesus tells the story of a man who was robbed, robbed, beaten and left half dead by the side of the road. Michael Fallon (2013) also explained in his homily that all we learn about this person is that he is a man, illustrating that this is enough to be considered a “neighbor.” The priest does not feel the need to help the man because it is not clear that he is his “neighbor” whom he has an obligation to help. Furthermore, Jesus also points out the hypocrisy of the Levite who pours out on the sacrifices but not on the man in need. The priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan all saw the man, but the text describes the Samaritan as being “touched with pity” (Luke 10:33). Jesus often used this expression before healing because it refers to a deep level of compassion in one's being. Following the development of the plot of the parable, it was expected that the third person to encounter the man would be an Israelite. However, the story takes an unexpected turn and shocks Jesus' audience when the hero is a Samaritan. The lawyer who initially questioned Jesus at the beginning of this sacred text reportedly hated the Samaritans because they were ostracized by the Jerusalem establishment (Beitzel, 2006). However, when Jesus asks him who was next in the parable, he is forced to follow the moral example of a Samaritan in Jesus' story. The modern view and interpretation of this sacred text ensures that the central themes established by the parable remain relevant in a contemporary context. Appropriation of the text in new contexts is inevitable because the hermeneutics of this parable vary across times and for different audiences. Students of the Jewish Scriptures recognize the central values of love, but have values aligned differently than a person of Christian faith that coincide with the Good Samaritan. The deep meaning of this sacred text is to love your neighbor as yourself and to manifest this love in action. This is expressed by Dr. Amy-Jill Levine (2012), who insists that the text indicates that “not only must we love our enemies, but we must also provide free medical services to foreign nationals.” Additionally, Michael Fallon (2013) also stated that “if we truly want the life that comes from God, we have no choice but to do what the Samaritan did.” It is obvious that there is no room for prejudice or bigotry, nor for avoiding the demands of love by hiding behind the laws that govern the relationship with God. Although this mindset seems simple, people often find excuses, like the priest and the Levite, to avoid social problems. Understanding this reality helps convey the powerful message of the parable, which "insists that enemies can turn out to be neighbors, that compassion has no boundaries, and that judging people on the basis of.