耶穌在福音中形容的撒瑪黎雅人,其實就是祂自己。祂在我們還在罪惡中跌倒、受傷、甚至半死不活時,看顧了我們,讓我們透過祂建立的聖事得到重生、治癒,還把我們帶回祂那永恆的羊棧。當祂說:「你去,也照樣做吧!」就是教我們跟隨祂一樣,懷著憐憫的心,毫無保留地照顧近人的需要。
根據當時的風俗,撒瑪黎雅人不但與猶太人不相往來,甚至互相鄙視,但耶穌口中的撒瑪黎雅人在遇見從耶路撒冷下來卻遭遇了強盜的人時,卻因著一顆憐憫的心,願意打破隔閡為他處理傷口,帶他到客店照料。
其實仔細想想,這樣做不但冒險、費時,也很昂貴。撒瑪黎雅人不知道受傷的人是否強盜假扮,或附近會否埋伏了他的同黨,所以停下來看顧他是很危險的。他也可能正匆忙路過;為這陌生的傷者停下來,再送他到客店,不但耽誤了行程,甚至還要改道而行。最後他為這陌生人對店主說:「請你小心看護他!不論額外花費多少,等我回來時,必要還給你。」店主將要他付的費用,他真的付得起嗎?
我們在幫助別人前,總會衡量自己有沒有時間、能力和金錢,還會看看那人的身份,但耶穌的教導,卻是要我們看別人的需要為先,這就是愛人如己的表現。
「你去,也照樣做吧!」
Jesus is the Good Samaritan described in His parable. While we're still trapped, wounded and half-dead in sin, He came and picked us up. With His sacraments He continues to heal and strengthen us, and guide us into His everlasting kingdom. When He said: “Go and do likewise,” he is telling us to follow Him, to reach out to our neighbors in need, with compassion and without reservation.
At the time of Jesus' teaching, Samaritans had nothing to do with Jews, and some even despised one another. Yet the Samaritan that Jesus described not only stopped for the victim who came down from Jerusalem, he also treated his wounds and brought him to an inn to care for him out of compassion.
This is not only risky, time-consuming, and can also cost a lot of money. The injured person can be a robber in disguise, so approaching him can be dangerous. The Samaritan may be in a hurry, so stopping for the stranger to take care of his wounds and then carrying him to an inn, not only delayed his trip, but can very well interrupt his original itinerary. Lastly, he told the innkeeper, “Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.” How does he know he can afford what the innkeeper will charge him?
When we care for people around us, we usually first assess if we have the time, money and ability to do so. It also depends on who that person is that we're helping. However, Jesus teaches us to look at the needs of our neighbor first, even if that neighbor is a stranger, and that is truly, love our neighbor as ourselves.
“Go, and do likewise.”