A Modern Take on the Parable of The Good Samaritan

I was inspired to make this during sacrament meeting today after one of the speakers told the story of The Good Samaritan. I think that some of the meaning and radical tone of the story is lost by our no longer having emotional meaning for some of the terms used by Christ, so I replaced three of those words with modern terms that I believe emphasize the original meaning of the story.

25. And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26. He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27. And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

28. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

30. And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31. And by chance there came down a certain bishop that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32. And likewise a Marine, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33. But a certain Muslim, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

34. And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

36. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37. And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Why I chose each word ~

Bishop (formerly priest): This change is not as significant as the other two, but I think that within the LDS church we have a stronger emotional response to the idea of a bishop ignoring someone in need than the more generic term priest.

Marine (formerly Levite): Levites in ancient Israel were looked on as protectors of the Jews. Just as spiritual safety was the responsibility of a priest, physical safety was the responsibility of the Levites. The modern equivalent this reminds me of is the Marines, though of course all members of the military protect us. The idea of a Marine passing an injured man in need seems shocking, just as I think ancient Jews would have found the image of a Levite ignoring a Jew in need.

Muslim (formerly Samaritan): The samaritans we’re by no measure bad people. They were however looked down upon and persecuted by the Israelites. They were falsely considered to be enemy to the Israelites because of ideological differences in much the same way that Muslims are falsely seen to be an enemy by some Christians today.

Christ’s story was that a man in need was not helped by his spiritual leader, not helped by his physical protector, but finally was helped by someone he believed to be his enemy.

Both the priest and Levite could have been the injured man’s literal neighbor, yet it was a Samaritan, a man from another tribe who was the most neighborly.