Homilies on Luke

Homily 34. Luke 10.25-37

HOMILY 34 Luke IO.25-37 On the passagefrom, "Master, what shall I do to possess eternal life?" up to the jJoint where it says, "Go and do likewise. " HILE IN THE LAW there are many precepts, in the Gospel the Savior laid down only two. By a kind of short cut, they lead those who obey them to eternal life. In this regard, the teacher of the Law had questionedJesus and said, "Master, what shall I do to possess eternallife?"1 This passage , from the Gospel According to Luke, was read to you today .Jesus responded to this as follows: "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" [The teacher replied,] "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with all your strength and with your whole mind; and your neighbor as yourself.'" ThenJesus said, "You have answered well. Do this, and you shall live.'" Without any doubt it is eternal life about which the teacher of the Law had questionedJesus, and with which the Savior's words dealt. At the same time, a precept in the Law clearly teaches us to love God. In Deuteronomy the Law says, "Israel, the Lord your God is one God," and, "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole mind,'" and so forth, and "your neighbor as yourself."" The Savior bore witness about these commands and said, "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the prophets." 6 2. But the teacher of the Law "wanted tojustifY himself' and show that no one was a neighbor to him. He said, "Who is my J. Lk 10.25 . 3. Lk 10.28. 5. Lv 19.18. 137 2. Lk 10.27. 4· Dt 6-4-5· 6. Mt 22-40. 138 ORIGEN neighbor?" The Lord adduced a parable, which begins, "Acertain man was going down fromJerusalem intoJericho," and so on.7 And he teaches that the man going down was the neighbor ofno one exceptofhim whowilled to keep the commandments and prepare himself to be a neighbor to every one who needs help. For, this is what is found after the parable, at its end: "Which of these three does it seem to you is the neighbor of the man who fell among robbers?" Neither the priest nor the Levite was his neighbor, but-as the teacher ofthe Law himself answered-"hewho showed pity"was his neighbor. Hence, the Savior says, "Go and do likewise."s 3. One of the elders' wanted to interpret the parable as follows . The man who was going down is Adam.Jerusalem is paradise , andJericho is the world. The robbers are hostile powers. The priestis the Law, the Levite is the prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. The wounds are disobedience, the beast is the Lord's body, the pandochium (that is, the stable),\0 which accepts all who wish to enter," is the Church. And further, the two denarii mean the Father and the Son. The manager of the stable is the head of the Church, to whom its care has been entrusted. And the fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Savior's second coming. 4. All of this has been said reasonably and beautifully. But we should not think that it applies to every man. For, not every man "goes down fromJerusalem intoJericho," nordo all dwell in this present world for that reason, even if he who "was sent on account ofthe lostsheep ofthe house ofIsrael""went down. Hence, the man who "wentdown fromJerusalem intoJericho" "fell among robbers" because he himself wished to go down. But the robbers are none other than they ofwhom the Savior says, "All who came before me were thieves and robbers.,,\3 But still, he does not fall among thieves, but among robbers, who 7. Lk 10.30. 8. Lk 10.36-37. g. Cf. Commentary on Matthew 16.g. 10.Jerome keeps the Greekword, which means "inn," and glosses itas "stable." I 1. This is the sense of the Greek word JtCtVOOXELOV, which is compounded from the words for "all" and "receiving." 12. Mt 15.24. 13.Jn 10.8. HOMILY 34 139 are far worse than thieves. He fell among them when he was going down fromJerusalem. "They robbed him and inflicted blows on him. "14 What are the blows? What are the wounds that have wounded a...