What if it is Jesus in the ditch?

We can't tell for sure, and that is the way it is intended to be because that is how parables work. We can't tell for sure which character is intended to represent Jesus, and so let us consider that it is Jesus who is lying in that ditch, wounded and in need of life-saving help.

 What could we learn from that?

Clearly we aren't going to 'save' Jesus.  Clearly Jesus can 'save' himself if needed.  So why put the face of Jesus on that anonymous man in the ditch?

Perhaps so that whenever we look upon the wounded and abandoned people of our world we will see the face of Jesus.  Perhaps so when we encounter the lost, the lonely and the unwanted ones - especially the ones which will require some sacrificial giving on our part - we will see the face of Jesus, the wounded one.  Perhaps so we will begin to understand that to love God is to love that anonymous neighbor in need.  It is an understanding of the heart and not the head: we are reaching out not only in Jesus' name but we are reaching out to Jesus himself.

That's the way love works.  It generates deep compassion for those around us.  God's love for us in Jesus, the one who reached out to give us life and wholeness becomes the compassion with which we reach out to our neighbors.  The life Jesus gives us wells up into life-giving compassion for our neighbors in a never ending circle.  Love God - love neighbor - be loved by God - go love neighbor - love God.

One biblical author asks, How can you love the God you cannot see when you do not love the neighbor who is right there in front of your face? (clearly a paraphrase).

All this to come to the answer of the lawyer's question  Who is my neighbor?

The answer is Yes.

We're talkin' about widows

Throughout the Old Testament we hear again and again God's command to Israel to care for the widows and orphans.  That is because, in the structure of their society, no one else did.  Widows and orphans represented the most vulnerable, those with no power at all, no voice, no resources.

Who would we put in this category today?  In light of Hurricane Sandy we might put those who are now homeless.  Perhaps all homeless folks should be in this category.

In light of Newtown, we might put grieving parents into this category, or perhaps all those who are left behind when violence claims a loved one.

Justice - according to our faith - is the balancing of the scales; that is, lifting up and protecting those who are vulnerable and without a voice. 

Who needs our protection today?  What are we/you doing to care for them?