Jesus could have constructed his parable so that a noble Jew showed mercy to a Samaritan victim. This would have been a step in the right direction, but it would have kept the Jew in the superior role. Jesus’ parable is more subversive than that. Jesus casts his parable so that a Jew is the victim, other Jews fail to act in love, and a compassionate Samaritan is the hero of the story. Jesus was challenging the Jewish tendency to look at Samaritans as two-dimensional villains. Jesus is essentially asking, “What are you going to do if the people whose theology you scorn are more merciful than
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