Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

The Good Samaritan: A Portrait Of Jesus Christ

Rev. Marcel Emeka Okwara

Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, July 13, 2025

The parable of the Good Samaritan has commonly been used to illustrate the Golden Rule, which says that we should treat others as we want to be treated. While this ethical interpretation is valid and laudable, the Saints and Fathers of the Church remind us that to care only for the material needs of others is to expect them to “live by bread alone.” Physical well-being, they say, is only part of the way to spiritual restoration. So the parable of the Good Samaritan is not merely a morality tale. It is not just an account of the kind of life we should lead. Yes indeed, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy compel us to care for those in need. But the parable of the Good Samaritan is much deeper than that. It is rather a great illustration of who Jesus Christ is and how he saves and cures. 

How does the parable begin? Jesus says: “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” In the Bible, Jerusalem is a symbol of God's presence. It is often regarded as the city of God. Mount Zion is in Jerusalem. In Psalm 122:3-4, we hear, “Jerusalem is built as a city, strongly compact. It is there that the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord.” Jerusalem is always associated with heaven: “You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22). Jerusalem is a symbol of the well-ordered city, a well-ordered life, and spiritual perfection. So, to travel from Jerusalem to Jericho symbolizes a departure from God’s presence, ordered life, and spiritual perfection. And by the way, if you go to the Holy Land, you will notice a real descent as you walk from Mount Zion in Jerusalem to Jericho. Jericho is one of the lowest cities in the world because it is at the level of the Dead Sea, which is one of the lowest places on earth. Symbolically speaking, Jericho is the city of sin. When the Israelites got to the Promised Land, who stood in opposition to them? Jericho! Symbolically, their opposition is an opposition to God’s will. Remember the blind Bartimaeus in the Gospel of Mark. Where was he sitting before Jesus saved him? He was sitting by the walls of Jericho.   The idea is that, spiritually speaking, blindness is associated with this city of sin. Jericho is the symbol of an improperly ordered city and a symbol of a dysfunctional soul. So, a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho represents the Fall of the human race. We all are this man, who, through sin, has departed from the heights of God’s friendship to the depths of Jericho. This is a descent from a state of grace to a state of sin. 

As he walked from Jerusalem to Jericho, Jesus says he fell victim to robbers. He was robbed of his possessions. What does sin do to us? It robs us of friendship with God. It robs us of the best in us. It robs us of grace and full participation with the people of God. When our friendship with God is distorted, our minds are distorted as well. We might know a lot of true things, but we don’t know the deepest truth. When we lose friendship with God, we begin to choose wrong things. We are robbed in a certain way, our human dignity. Our likeness to God is compromised. This is what sin does to us. Sin is like an addiction. When the Bible uses the word “sin,” it is like a condition, a disease, an addiction. It is like a state we find ourselves in, and we cannot extricate ourselves from it. G. K. Chesterton, the great English writer, said, “We are all in the same boat and we are all sea-sick.”

Who met the beaten man by the road? He was met by the priest and the Levite. But they could not help him. What do they symbolize? They symbolize all the official religion of that time. They symbolize all the rituals and practices of the religions of that time. In our time, some people argue that if there is enough political reform, the fine-tuning of economic policies to make things better, and working to improve our psychology, we will be okay. But the Bible says, No! There is nothing we can do, no work of ours or institution of ours can save us from the problem of sin. In fact, when we try to save ourselves, we make things worse. Our salvation is beyond us. If you're stuck in quicksand, the worst move to make is to try on your own to get out. You just sink deeper. 

Who comes along to save the man? A Samaritan. He is an outsider. In Jesus’ time, Samaritans were considered half breeds, not true Israelites, and not really good. But it was this Samaritan who, upon seeing a helpless man, went down from his own Beast of Burden, stooped down, poured oil and wine into the wounds of the man. Then puts him up on his own Beast of Burden, takes him to an inn, and cares for him. Who is this outsider? Who is this good Samaritan? Jesus Christ, the Lord! Look at him on the cross. Is he an Outsider? Yes, indeed! Was he despised? Absolutely! Yet, he is the one who stooped down. The great St. Paul said, “Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God, something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, accepting even death, death on a cross.” What is that cross? It is the stooping low of the Good Samaritan Christ, who poured into our wounded souls, our sin-sick souls, oil and wine. The use of oil and wine to heal points to the sacramental life of the Church. Oil is used for baptism, confirmation, ordination to the priesthood, and the anointing of the sick. And wine points to the Eucharist. If you have been baptized and confirmed, you have had the oil of Jesus Christ poured into your wounds. In the Mass, we receive the Eucharist, the bread and wine, which is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. So, in the Mass, Jesus is pouring his own Blood into our sin-sick souls. 

The earliest description of Jesus is Savior. The Latin word is “Salvator,” which means “the one who bears the Salus.” “Salus” means “health,” “well-being.” In the ancient world, a Roman citizen would greet another “Salve.” Salve was another way of saying, “hello.” But it means “health,” “good health” to you. Remember one of the ancient prayers to the Blessed Mother Mary, “Salve Regina.” It means “Hail or hello, Holy Queen.” Jesus is the Salvator, the Bearer of healing. And Jesus, the Bearer of healing, gives us the Sacraments of the Church as a means of healing. These sacraments are poured into the wounds of sin-sick souls. I tell you, we can’t be healed in any other way. The Good Samaritan, after picking up the wounded man, and pouring oil and wine into his wounds, he brings him to an inn, where he pays for him. What is the inn? The Church. Jesus brings us to this place of healing, the Church, where we will receive continuous healing. The Late Pope Francis called the Church a field hospital, where wounded souls can find healing and refreshment. Jesus is called the Savior and the Healer. He is also called the Redeemer. The word redeemer is the English version of Latin redemptor, which is derived from the verb “redimere,” that is, “to buy back,” “to ransom.” The cross is the paying of the price. On the cross, what we owe due to our sin was paid for. We can’t pay it. But he paid it on the cross. We’re all in the same boat, and we are all seasick. We’re all addicted. We’re all in the condition of sin. Like the man in the parable, we have all gone down from Jerusalem to Jericho. In that sinful place, we lie incapable of saving ourselves. But glory be to God. The Good Samaritan Christ came to save us. Thanks be to God. The Good Samaritan came and brought us to an inn, the Church, the field hospital, to a place of healing. Honor to God for the Good Samaritan came and paid the price that we cannot in principle pay. Yes indeed, the story of the Good Samaritan is about how we should treat our neighbor. But far more important, it is the story of how God treated us and treats us in our sin. The reason why we gather here often is to continue to receive the ongoing healing of God and also to give thanks to God for sending us the Good Samaritan Christ. 

God bless you