The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Just now I re-read the Bible passage of the Good Samaritan. The story has been on my mind today because I became involved in a Facebook debate concerning panhandlers. I'll post the entries here, deleting the name of one of the contributors and saying, for the sake of full disclosure, that Pat Maasch is my sister. It started with my Facebook post, as follows.
Meanwhile, my local news channel just ran a story about the "problem" of the increasing number of panhandlers. Is it any wonder there are more people out begging for money after long term unemployment benefits were ended? An interviewee actually said there are more beggars because that's easier than finding work. You try standing all day in below freezing weather being judged and humiliated and see whether you wouldn't rather have a job.
Back to the Samaritan. In the parable, Jesus says the man fell prey to robbers who left him, beaten and nearly naked, half-dead by the side of the road. Both a Pharisee and a Levite saw the man but couldn't be bothered to help him. A Samaritan - an outcast - took pity on the guy, dressed his wounds, took him to an inn, and paid for his lodging and meals.
I bet all of us hope we would be as compassionate. Perhaps we think we would do as well as the Samaritan did by the robbery victim. Let me just mention one or two other things about the story, however.
We don't know anything else about the robbery victim. He could have been a good guy or a bad guy. All we do know is that he was in desperate obvious need. Nor so we know a whole lot about the Pharisee and the Levite, except that they passed the half-dead man on the other side of the road - I'm guessing so they wouldn't have to hear his pleas for help - and that they were part of Jewish religious cults and were known for their presumed rectitude.
Finally, we don't know much about the Samaritan, just that he was a nice person and had two pieces of silver on him. Maybe they were his last bits of cash, who knows? My point is that he doesn't know the robbery victim either. It doesn't say anywhere in the story that he questioned the injured man to find out what had happened to him. For all he knows, the guy might have lost a fight that he had instigated himself. All he knows is that the man needs help, so he pitches in and helps.
Panhandlers on the roadside aren't in such obvious need as the robbery victim in the parable. And yes, in a nation of more than 300 million people, there are some folks who want to make only a minimal effort at life, and would rather ask for money than work for it. In fact, in a nation of more than 300 million people, there's just about nothing we can imagine that doesn't happen from time to time.
So, to sum up, should we give money to panhandlers? Does doing so just enable them to live idle lives? Possibly yes, as they say, but probably no. What I do know is that I'll give money to beggars as I'm able to, and won't bother myself about their motivations.
