I know you are used to hearing this called something else but this title is a little closer to the point. Jesus instructs His apostles in Matthew 10 how to preach to all the world, warning them of many troubles to come and equipping them with many spiritual gifts of healing and power over evil spirits.
Luke 10 tells us that Jesus then passed these instructions on to 72 other disciples, sending these new " laborers" into the "Master's field." This is where my meditation begins.
A lawyer sits close by where Jesus is openly instructing the crowd of disciples. He is curious about what is happening and observes that these 72 men are disgustingly eager to follow this carpenter with no credentials. He is feeling a bit jealous and wishes to embarrass this impostor and reveal to the crowd how little their hero knows. He decides to approach Him and begins by rudely interrupting the conversation in which He is engaged with the words: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus politely excuses Himself from His flock in order to address the question of this self-important lawyer. "What is written in the law?" He asks. "How do you read it?" The man is thrilled with this opportunity to show the crowd how well-versed he is in Scripture. His face is full of delightful pride as he sharply whips off a quote from Deuteronomy concerning the importance of loving God with one's whole self and loving our neighbor as well. Jesus affirms his quotation and finishes it off by reminding him what the Scripture also says: "....do this and you shall live," before He turns back to His disciples.
But it irritates the scribe that Jesus seems to be familiar with the Scriptures and is unimpressed by his knowledge. He fumbles for another way to trip Jesus up and quickly blurts out: "And who is my neighbor?!"
For the second time, Jesus turns from His people to speak to the scribe. His eyes are full of deep compassion for him, as He sees through the filth of his arrogance and hurt pride. His face is pensive as He offers to him the parable we know as "the Good Samaritan." The lawyer's eyebrows bend toward each other and his expression becomes rather tight as Jesus relays His tale.
As Jesus is speaking I become aware that He speaks allegorically about the scribe's own life. Jesus is aware of the man's entire history: how he 'came down from Jerusalem ' as a youth and got caught up in so many dark sins; how he struggled to find the truth and please his parents. He knows the abuse and the shame he endured at the hands of those who robbed him of his dignity and left him spiritually dead. As Jesus speaks of the "good Samaritan" I see in His face a wrenching pity, an intense compassion. His eyes are glazed and he speaks with great suffering in His expression as He describes the finding of the victim on the road to Jericho. So much empathy does Jesus show that the scribe is becoming disturbed and uncomfortable.
"Which of the three: the priest, the Levite or the Samaritan, was neighbor to the man?" Jesus asks.
Bewildered by this story and the emotion with which Jesus has told it, the scribe replies, "I suppose the one who treated him with mercy. "
"Then go and do the same," He instructs, and then turns back to His disciples. The scribe is left to ponder these things on his own.
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