A Pepper Grinder Post

The Parable of the Good Vegan

Today, I want to look at the Parable of the Good Samaritan, but I want to approach it in a different way than I usually do. Normally, I try to look at a portion of the Bible using a number of different tools and methods to try to glean everything I can from the passage. This, I believe, is the ideal way to study the Bible. However, today I want to look at a very familiar New Testament parable, mainly just focusing on one thing--the cultural context. Cultural context focuses on helping us understand what something would have meant to people in Bible times. This can be anything from helping someone understand an idiom or metaphor that we no longer use (like "slander" in the Old Testament being expressed by the phrase, "eating pieces of" someone) to helping us understand attitudes and perspectives that wouldn't be obvious to us. This is sometimes all the more necessary for those of us who know the Bible, because we may get ideas from what's said in the Bible that are not in line with the attitudes of the culture.

A good example of this is the Pharisees. "Pharisee" in modern culture has literally become a synonym for "hypocrite," which is very understandable because of the way Jesus talks about them. But what did people in New Testament times think of the Pharisees? To grasp this, we have to know something about the religious and political world Jesus was born into. The Romans were running the show, but the Jews were given a certain amount of autonomy. The Jews with the most power were mostly from a group called the Sadducees. Sadducees believed that only the first five books of the Old Testament were authoritative. They also did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Among this powerful group of Jews were the High Priest and his family, and many members of the standard religious establishment such as priests and Levites. These were often people who had compromised with the Romans the most, and who had gotten rich doing it. Your average Jew of Jesus's day did not think very highly of this class of people. In average Jewish eyes, Sadducees were corrupt and didn't truly care about God and his people.

But guess who they thought were the good guys? That's right, the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the ones who were truly pious. They were faithfully trying to follow the teachings of the Old Testament (and they accepted ALL of the Old Testament as authoritative), rather than caving in to the Romans and getting rich.

Another misunderstanding has to do with the Samaritans. Here we get more indication of what the Jews of that time thought about Samaritans. We are told, for example, that Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. We also hear of an incident in the chapter in Luke just before the chapter containing the Parable of the Good Samaritan, that a Samaritan village wouldn't welcome Jesus and his disciples, because they were on their way to Jerusalem. What's up with this group of people? The Samaritans of Jesus's day would have claimed to be descendants of Abraham, just like the Jews, and they accepted the authority of the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament). Their belief was that they were descendants of the Jews living in the northern kingdom of Samaria. The Jews, however, while they may have thought the Samaritans had some Jewish blood, assumed the Samaritans were descendants of the people brought into the land by the King of Assyria after he conquered the northern kingdom, and thus that they were not really Jews at all. To make the relationship more acrimonious, the Jews in New Testament times believed that the Temple in Jerusalem was the only legitimate place to worship God, while the Samaritans believed that the original place of worship when the Jews came into the Holy Land was Mount Gerizim, and that was this was still the place where God should be worshiped. A huge problem for a Jewish audience would be the name that is now given to this parable--the good Samaritan. We might as well say something like, "the good white supremacist."

So, one of the biggest hindrances to our understanding the Parable of the Good Samaritan is that we don't understand how first century Jews would have seen the people in this parable. The priest and Levite would have been seen as corrupt, while the Samaritan would be despised. Because of this, I'd like to try retelling this parable for people living in modern-day America. There's just one problem: whereas the first century Jewish attitudes toward the groups mentioned in the parable were quite widespread (just in the previous chapter, James and John, two of Jesus's closest disciples, had suggested that they could call down fire from heaven on the Samaritan village), in modern-day America, we are much more divided in who we hate. So, I need to ask you to make some substitutions when you read this. I'm not too worried about the priest and Levite. I'm replacing them with a corrupt politician and a personal injury lawyer. All you have to do is imagine the politician to be a member of whichever of the two major parties you dislike more.

The tough question was who to have the Samaritan be, and that's where I need your help. If you are left-leaning politically, try picturing the Samaritan as Billy from the rural south. Billy drives a four-wheel-drive pickup with big tires and the kind of suspension that makes climbing into the cab similar to getting into an airplane. Billy has a gun rack in his truck and a big NRA sticker on the tailgate. He is never seen without his red "Make America Great Again" cap, and he loves to go to alt-right rallies and hang around in chat rooms of that same flavor.

If you're on the opposite side of the political spectrum, let's have the Samaritan be Megan from southern California. Megan is a vegan who drives a red Prius whose rear is plastered with bumper stickers announcing, among other things, that animals are people too, and urging lawmakers to keep their laws off Megan's body. The back of her car also urges us to support several socialist political candidates, sports several prominent rainbows, says some vitriolic things about Donald Trump and his supporters, and, last of all, reminds us to "Coexist."

If you really want to get creative, you can imagine some other stereotypical person who stands for everything you don't like, and have them play the part of the Samaritan. If I had the time, I could make this posting be interactive, so you could choose the person you wanted to be your Samaritan and the rest of the posting would change to reflect your choice. However, I'm going to let you use your imagination. I'm going to write the post with Megan as the Samaritan, even though I will confess that I'm not sure I'd agree too well with either of my candidates for the role. In any case, here goes.

The Parable of the Good Vegan*

Jim was an ex-Marine and a successful businessman. One day, he was driving south on Route 75 when he noticed a bunch of motorcycles stopped at the side of the road. One of the bikes was lying on its side and a tattooed biker lay near it in a crumpled heap. The other bikers waved frantically to Jim to stop, so he pulled off the road and got out of the car to see if he could help. As Jim walked over toward the biker on the ground, one of the guys came up behind him and hit him on the head with a big wrench. The biker who had pretended to be injured quickly jumped up, and they took Jim's wallet and keys and then began to take turns kicking and punching Jim's unconscious body. By the time they were done, Jim was lying beside the road, half naked, in a pool of blood. One of the bikers' girlfriends drove off in Jim's car, and the rest roared off on their bikes, laughing.

A short while later, a Mercedes being driven by Joe Cardon's chief of staff came down the road. Joe had been in the House of Representatives for 19 years, and he'd worked his way up to a fairly powerful position. He had a reputation for changing his position to fit with public opinion, but he managed to keep winning elections by telling his electorate what they wanted to hear. As they drove along, Joe was hunched over his phone, reading about a recent opinion poll. The chief of staff slowed down when he saw Jim. "Man," he said, "that guy looks pretty bad. Think we should stop and call an ambulance for him?"

Joe's beady eyes flicked up from his phone to the side of the road. He hesitated for a second, then looked back down at his phone. "No," he said, "I wish I could help him, but we can't be late for this luncheon--the press is going to be there. Besides, I'm not sure we could do anything to help him anyway." Suddenly, Joe looked up at the driver with a smile on his face. "You know what? This would make a great illustration for the point I want to make about gun control! As long as all these right-wing nut jobs can buy their semi-automatics, this kind of stuff is going to keep happening." Joe pulled out a notepad and started writing furiously.

Not too long after this, Tom Foreman came cruising down Route 75 in his new Lexus. Tom had just passed a billboard with a larger-than-life picture of himself, looking like he meant business. The caption read, "Injured? Call Tom Foreman. He'll make sure you get what you deserve!" Tom smiled to himself. He had just pocketed a third of a two million dollar settlement. Life was good. Suddenly, he noticed some guy lying near the road up ahead. The man was half naked and bleeding. Tom shuddered. He had a fleeting thought of picking the guy up and driving him to the hospital--who knows, he might even get a good lawsuit out of it. Then he thought about trying to get the blood off his leather seats. "Besides," he reasoned, "that's the kind of job that should be done by professionals. Maybe I'll call 911 a little later on."

A little while later, Megan's red Prius came whipping down Route 75. She was listening to Cenk Uygur** tear into Donald Trump and enjoying it immensely. Megan's hair was on the short side and had a pink streak this day. As she drove, she poked experimentally at the stud in her newest eyebrow piercing, and she occasionally nibbled on a baby carrot dipped in hummus. As she rounded a curve, her happy mood was cut short by the site of a bleeding man lying at the side of the road. Megan felt a wave of compassion, braked hard, and pulled over. She jumped out of her car and ran over to take a look at Jim. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she saw the tattoo on his bicep of an eagle on top of the globe with the large letters "USMC" below. But, as she looked at his injuries, she felt really bad for him. She whipped out her iPhone and dialed 911 with one hand, while she put pressure on his head wound with the other. A little later, she watched in concern as the medics looked over Jim and loaded him into the ambulance, and she followed the ambulance to the local hospital. As Jim was wheeled into the E.R., Megan stopped at the admitting area. The woman behind the counter was surprised to find that Megan was no relation to Jim and didn't even know who he was. She was flummoxed when she found out that Jim had no ID and no proof of insurance. "Well, of course, we'll treat him, but without insurance, they won't want him to be admitted for long."

"Look," Megan said, "I want you to take good care of this guy. I'll pick up the tab for any extra expenses. I want someone to call me as soon as he regains consciousness." Megan handed over her rainbow-festooned Visa card.

"Uh, sure. No problem." The woman behind the counter still looked baffled.

Megan sat next to Jim's gurney, while he was waiting for a turn in the MRI machine. When he was about to be wheeled off, she patted the arm of the unconscious man and said, "You hang in there. I'll be back."

Which of the three was a neighbor to Jim?

Now let's look at the original version of this parable in Luke, chapter 10

An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. He said, "Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus replied, "What's written in the Law? How do you read it?"

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind'; and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Jesus said, "You've answered correctly. Do this and you will live."

But wanting to show he was righteous, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

In reply, Jesus said, "A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho when he ran into some robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and went away, leaving him half dead. It so happened that a priest was traveling on that road, and, seeing the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite came to that place, and, seeing the man, he passed by on the other side. Now a Samaritan was traveling, and came to the place where the man was. When he saw the man, he had compassion on him. He bandaged his wounds, putting oil and wine on them. He put him on his own donkey and led him to an inn, where he cared for him. The next day, he took out as much as he made in two days, gave it to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I'll pay you when I come back.' Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?"

The expert in the Law replied, "The one who showed him mercy."

Jesus told him, "Go and do the same." (Luke 10:25-37, my translation)

The thing that amazes me about the parable and Jesus's answer is the way Jesus simply and deftly changed the direction of the conversation from the way the Expert in the Law was going. It all started with Jesus being asked what should be done to inherit eternal life. Given the relationship of experts in the Law and Pharisees with Jesus, it's a safe guess that this was a trick question. I imagine that the questioner hoped Jesus would give some answer that went against the Torah. Jesus immediately threw the expert off-balance by asking him what the Law had to say in response to his question. However, the expert in the Law made a good recovery by zeroing in on two passages which truly are central to the teaching of the Old Testament. Then Jesus, who was supposed to be the one on trial, told the expert that he passed the test, and that if he would follow the teaching he had just elucidated, he would live.

But the legal expert didn't give up that quickly. He wanted to salvage something from the conversation, so, as a follow-up to the passage he had quoted about loving your neighbor as yourself, he asked who his neighbor was. I believe that his question was more precisely about who his neighbor was not. I think the Jews of Jesus's day had a much more limited idea of what it meant to love someone as themselves than God had when he gave the commandment, and if this expert could just confirm that his neighbors were his fellow Jews that he already treated reasonably decently, he could walk away from the encounter feeling that he was doing okay. This, in itself, is an amazing shift. The expert in the Law has gone from going on the offensive against Jesus, to seeking confirmation from Jesus that he was doing okay!

But Jesus wasn't finished turning the tables. Instead, he told a story that would pull his listeners in. The Romans were pretty good at maintaining law and order, but there was still plenty of risk from robbers for people who traveled in remote areas alone. So, when Jesus told of a man being beaten and robbed and left almost dead, the people could relate to it. Then I can picture the people smiling and nodding when they heard about the priest and the Levite passing by without helping. Just as we feel about dishonest politicians and lawyers, they did not think much of the corrupt priests and Levites.

But what would happen next? For us, we might expect a godly pastor or a salt-of-the-earth Christian to come along and help Jim. I think the Jews of Jesus's day would have expected a Pharisee to come along and help the man in the parable. After all, the Pharisees were the truly pious and godly Jews of that day, in the opinion of the average Jew. But, instead of that, along came Megan the vegan or Billy the redneck to help! In the original, someone from one of the groups the Jews most despised shows up to take care of the injured man.

It would be one thing if the injured man were a Samaritan, and a pious Jew stopped to help. But Jesus switched things around even more by having the Samaritan be the one who demonstrated godly love. Jesus then got the Expert in the Law to admit that the Samaritan was the one of the three who acted like a neighbor (though notice that the expert can't even get himself to say the word "Samaritan," instead resorting to, "the one who showed him mercy.") And then Jesus gives a final twist of the knife by saying, "Go and do the same." Go and be like a Samaritan. Go and be like Megan or Billy. Ouch!

Jesus had pierced through this man's defenses and spotlighted his hatred and prejudice. I think Jesus would do the same today with our hatreds. This doesn't mean we need to agree with everyone. Loving someone biblically means offering them kindness and compassion, even if we think their views are completely wrong. Our society today seems to have adopted the idea that it's okay to hate people whose views you don't like. That is NOT a biblical attitude. Jesus would have us love the way the Samaritan, Megan, and Billy loved. Let us go and do the same.

- Pepper
Posted 2019-09-12

*Note: Names of the main characters in the parable were made up out of thin air. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

**If you haven't heard of Cenk Uygur, don't feel bad--neither had I. I'm told he's a popular, left-wing broadcaster and podcaster.

***Image Credits: Saducees from listfact, Billy's truck from pinterest, coexist bumper sticker from thehardtimes.