The Parable of the Good Samaritan (25-37) 

After Jesus had a private time with His disciples, sharing with them how blessed they were to understand the Kingdom of God, it would seem a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. The lawyer sought to test Jesus' own truth regarding eternal life, or how one could qualify to live under God's eternal blessing (25). Jesus directed the lawyer back to the law of Moses, to which the lawyer, knowing the text, brought up the ultimate law of “love God and love neighbor” (25-27).

Jesus dismissed the testiness of the lawyer by telling him he had gotten the answer right (28). The lawyer wasn't finished; he was seeking to justify his lifestyle of obedience to the commandments and worthiness of eternal life, while at the same time rejecting Jesus.

The lawyer then asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” In the lawyer's mind, his neighbors were those who lived next door to Jewish people, or maybe even Jews who lived next door. He was seeking to qualify himself as a lover of God, yet a rejector of Jesus, through his acts of love to his neighbors. If Jesus were to say, “the person in need,” as He had to the rich young ruler asking a similar question, then the lawyer could offer evidence that he had done just that. The lawyer never imagined Jesus would kick his self-justifying legs out from under him with the parable He was about to tell. 

The format of the story is straightforward: a man going from Jerusalem to Jericho (the same road Jesus was going to take to go up to Jerusalem) fell among robbers. He was stripped, beaten, and left for dead (29-30). A priest and Levite came by and didn't want to become ceremonially unclean by perhaps touching a dead body, so they moved on (31-32). Eventually, a Samaritan came along, as Jesus would be doing, saw the man, had compassion, and began to treat the wounded man's injuries. He then took him to an inn, took care of him for the rest of the day, and finally paid to have others look after him until he returned (33-35).  

Here is where Jesus turned the question on its head. He did not ask which of the three guys treated the guy in the ditch like their neighbor. Certainly the lawyer was set up to answer that he was like the Samaritan, because he loved his neighbor at some level but still did not accept Jesus.

Jesus’ question was different: “Which guy proved to be the neighbor of the one lying in the ditch?” Was the neighbor the one using the law and some kind of legal loophole to excuse not showing compassion? Or was the one full of compassion, and not looking for a reason to be free from the obligation to express compassion, the neighbor? Was it the one who could justify by the law some level of bigotry and indifference, or was it the guy who never looked to the law to bail him out of his obligation to love? Jesus' answer proves the neighbor to be the one doing the loving based on compassion and mercy (36-37).

Martha’s and Mary’s Responses Contrasted (38-42)

Martha and Mary lived in Bethany. This would be at the end of the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. In other words, this story took place as Jesus was finishing His trip toward Jerusalem. It doesn't mean this story is in chronological order, but it is tied to the last story of the Samaritan (38). Jesus was seen entering the home of two women, Martha and Mary. Jesus began to teach, and Martha went with the other women into the kitchen to take their place getting the meal ready for Jesus' company. 

Oddly, Mary was sitting with the men listening to Jesus teach. Here is the real scandal. Mary was taking her place at Jesus’ feet; she was acting like a student, one whom Jesus would train to go in His name and preach and heal (39).  

Luke pointed out that Martha was so distracted with the obligation of her role that it hadn't crossed her mind to become a student with the other men, as Mary had figured out. Mary's move was bold and troubling to Martha. 

Finally, Martha was so bothered about Mary's bodacious act of sitting with the men that she complained to Jesus. She referred to her lonely labor in the kitchen, but behind it was a much deeper issue. Martha did not like that Mary, being a woman, could be invited into the room and the training session with the men (40).

This is not a story about one woman who was more contemplative than another, although the principle is a good one. This is a story about one woman who took a bold step of faith to believe she could be one of the Lord's preachers, whom He would personally train and commission.

Jesus told Martha she was worried about much, but only the Kingdom should consume that kind of focus, and Mary had stepped over the line into that commitment. Jesus was not going to take from her the place her faith was leading her. She wanted to be a fully-vested, fully-commissioned disciple of Jesus, sent to bear witness, and Jesus was with her in the vision. Being a woman was not going to stop Mary and, incredibly, neither was it going to be disallowed by Jesus (41-42).