The Good Samaritan on Our Roads
Van Gogh painted the moment of lifting. Who is lying by our roadside today?
A lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus answers with a story about a wounded man, two religious people who pass by, and a Samaritan — an outsider — who stops.
The moment of lifting
In 1890, Vincent van Gogh painted his own version of Delacroix’s Good Samaritan. He chose the hardest moment: the Samaritan straining to lift the injured man onto his horse, while in the distance the others walk away.
Our roads
Accident victims on the highway, migrant workers far from home, an elderly neighbour who has not been seen for days. Jesus turns the lawyer’s question around: not “who is my neighbour?” but “to whom will I be a neighbour?”
Youth challenge
Learn basic first aid as a parish youth group this month, and keep the numbers of the local hospital and ambulance service at hand.
Sources and references
- Scripture Luke 10:25–37 — The parable of the Good Samaritan
