One piece of homework I used to set my RE students in year 9 as part of a unit on prejudice and discrimination, was to re-write Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan in a modern day setting. So, I would receive versions such as The Good …….’Punk’ or ‘Liverpool Supporter’ or ‘Crack Addict’.
If Jesus was telling the story today, I wonder who his characters would be, bearing in mind to the Jews of his day, the Samaritans were barbarian monsters. Who would represent the religious moral people who saw the suffering and just walked by? Who would be the victim and who the original attacker?
Here’s the original story – what changes do you think Jesus might make?
Luke 10:29-37
An expert in religious law asked Jesus “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was travelling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, “Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.”
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbour to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.