How the Law of Moses Is To Be Lived Out
Luke 10:25-37
Some of you may remember the Seinfeld show. In its final episode, which aired at the end of the 1998 TV season, the main characters (Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer) receive a one year sentence for failing to help someone who was being robbed.
What happens is this: Their plane encounters problems and they are stuck in Lakeland, Massachusetts. Killing time wandering around on the sidewalks in this quaint New England town, they become innocent bystanders and witnesses of a car jacking.
Being New Yorkers and the kind of people they are, they make fun of the guy who is being robbed. Kramer, who has a camcorder in his hands, films the incident as a curiosity. They never lift a hand, never shout out; they are 10 yards away, and could care less. They just stand there and casually watch! The robber speeds off with the car and the police arrive late on the scene. With the excitement over, and the poor victim standing dazed in the street, Jerry turns to his friends and suggests they go get something to eat.
As they walk off the officer stops them and says, "Alright, hold it right there."
Jerry: What?
Officer: You are under arrest .
Jerry: Under arrest, What For?
Officer: Article 223 dash 7 of the Lakeland county penal code.
Elaine: What, we didn't do anything.
Officer: That's exactly right. The law requires you to help or assist anyone in danger as long as its reasonable to do so.
George: I never heard of that.
Officer: It's new, its called the Good Samaritan Law, Let's go.
The series ends with them serving their time. The critics hated it. It was pretty bad but there was a redeeming quality to that last episode. For nine years Seinfield 's characters used, ridiculed, and made fun of everyone they met. The four of them were the Priest and the Levites of our modern world. We climb the ladder of success and FedEx gives you the world on time. This is our attitude. Stopping to help someone crimps our style and requires too much of our time.
Looking back on it I can't help but wonder if the script for that final episode was taken right out of Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan. George says that he never heard of that one. Truth is, the law isn't new. It's as old as the tablets Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. There's nothing new about it. The story of the Good Samaritan underscores our apathy. It reminds us how unwilling we are to stop. Stop what we are doing and help someone who is in need.
But don't let this lull you into believing that Jesus is talking about being friendly to everyone. The point to the story has a bit more bite to it. Jesus is asking the expert of the Law to treat not just his friends, not just the people in his town, and folks stranded on the road as neighbors, but to treat the very people he despises, or dislikes, or makes fun of, or even hates as neighbors. In a word: Love your enemies. The story of the Good Samaritan is a lesson on how the Law of Moses is to be understood and lived out in the most difficult of relationships.
I am convinced that apathy is just a word until you see it in action. That's what the Seinfeld show did so well over the course of its nine years. It hid the apathy of the characters behind the mask of humor. In that final episode Jerry Seinfeld unmasked it and the critics couldn't stand it. The show wasn't trying to get a laugh, it was trying to make a point. It is the point of Jesus's parable: Anytime we refuse to stop and help and be a friend to someone in need, then we are committing the sin of the Priest and Levite on the Jericho Road.
Questions to Ponder
Had you heard of the Good Samaritan Law?
Do you think you have the time to help someone?
Are you guilty of apathy?
In His Service,
Terry Phillips
