The Good Samaritan Parable

Jesus knew his audience well. What passes modern readers by is the juxtaposition of “good” with “Samaritan”. In those days, to the Jewish people, that juxtaposition is oxymoronic. Thereby hangs the message of the parable.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. It is about a traveler (implicitly understood to be Jewish) who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. First, a Jewish priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan happens upon the traveler. Although Samaritans and Jews were generally antagonistic towards each other, the Samaritan helps the injured man. Jesus is described as telling the parable in response to a provocative question from a lawyer, “And who is my neighbor?”, in the context of the Great Commandment. The conclusion is that the neighbor figure in the parable is the one who shows mercy to their fellow man.

Wikipedia

Now, watch this short video story from last night’s The National on the CBC:

Hmm. Even the distance caused by the CCTV images doesn’t erase the fact that several vehicle and bus drivers just left him by the side of the road. And then he died.

Holding Out for a Hero

Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where’s the streetwise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?

Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed
Late at night, I toss and I turn
And I dream of what I need

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure, and it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life
Larger than life

Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasy
Somewhere, just beyond my reach
There’s someone reaching back for me

Racing on the thunder
And rising with the heat
It’s gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet, yeah

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure, and it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night

Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I could swear there is someone, somewhere watching me
Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the flood

I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood
(Like a fire in my blood, like a fire in my blood
Like a fire in my blood, like a fire in my blood, blood)

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure, and it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure, and it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night

Songwriters: Jim Steinman, Dean Pitchford

Sung by Bonnie Tyler