Calling someone a Samaritan today is generally considered a compliment—an indication that a person has done a good deed. But among Jews in Jesus' time, it would have been considered an insult.
A number of traditions attempt to explain the enmity between Samaritans and Jews.1 One traces it back to the time when Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, saying that the Samaritans allied themselves with Sanballat in opposing Nehemiah. Others relate the enmity to the Samaritans' decision to build a temple at the foot of Mount Gerizim, as a rival holy place to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
Whether the roots are in these or other causes, by Jesus' time the separation between the two groups was complete. As John's Gospel noted, "The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans."2
This fact makes it even more startling that in one of his best-known parables,3 Jesus spoke more positively about a Samaritan than about a priest and a Levite. Those familiar with the Bible know that, in the parable, a traveler going along the steep, rocky, and desolate road to Jericho was beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Three people in turn come upon him: a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. The parable sets up a contrast between the two holy men who saw the man but didn't stop to help him, and the despised Samaritan who did.
While there is some debate about whether or not the original parable described the third person as a Samaritan, that identification has stuck. Nor is it the only place where Samaritans come into the Biblical picture. Jesus actually went into Samaria at one point, and the Bible presents a fascinating account of his dialogue with a Samaritan woman at a well.4 His request that she draw water for him led to a discussion of Jewish beliefs and of his own teachings. She was impressed enough that she told the men of her village about this unusual visitor, thus opening the way for others to hear the Gospel message.
Jesus' willingness to be a "good neighbor" to the Samaritans, instead of despising them, put on record a new vision. One historian comments: "Few if any Jews of Jesus' time would have included Samaritans among neighbors to be loved. Yet no one who read the Parable of the Good Samaritan could henceforth regard them otherwise. The lessons of mutual support, respect, and help taught by Jesus were to be among the hallmarks of his followers in the first centuries of the church. 'See how they [the Christians] love one another' ... was a pagan, not a Christian observation."5
This love is a standard still worth following today.
