It is striking to note that the man attacked by the enemy in the parable has no name. It can be anyone. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the best parables Jesus narrated in the gospels. The ultimate goal of every human person’s life is to inherit eternal life. The lawyer who stood up from among the crowd raised a question regarding the means and ways to inherit eternal life. This query was not the outcome of a thirsty seeker’s pursuing mind. He wanted to test Jesus and trap him in words. Jesus foresaw it rightly. Hence Jesus encountered him with a counter question. “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” The lawyer who is versatile in the Torah answered these fundamental questions citing from the Old Testament, namely, Deuteronomy 6:5 where we read how Yahweh reveals the means to inherit eternal life to the Israelites, saying, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might”. In Leviticus 19:18, Yahweh speaks about love of the neighbour: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD”. Jesus acknowledges the lawyer’s reply as right.
The command to love the LORD is qualified by four words involving the core of one’s personality, such as, heart, soul, might and mind. These expressions categorically show us how God’s claim on us reaches to every area of our existence including our innermost being, that is, our heart; that gives us our identity, our soul; that gives us energy, strength, resolve and resources, that is our might. No part or cell of our self is to be withheld from the love of God. Love for oneself is the reason for all our activities as a human being to exist in the world. A person who hates himself totally ends his life. The expression, “You shall love the LORD your God… and your neighbour as yourself”, has a deep and profound meaning. Our love towards God does not exclude our love towards our neighbour. Indeed, when we really love God, we live out that love for our neighbours as well. In Christianity, love of neighbour is the only bypass to God and eternal life! This is vividly inculcated to us in the first letter of John 4: 7-21. The phrase “as yourself” implies love for oneself. Love for oneself is also expected from us.