The Modern Day Good Samaritan

Ok, I know it's been another long lag in my blogging life, however I have been quite busy getting ready for my college graduation (more on that later:) ). So that's a good excuse, right?

Ah, so anyways.

In case you missed this news story, here's the basic gist from The Associated Press:

"NEW YORK -- The homeless man lay face down, unmoving, on the sidewalk outside an apartment building, blood from knife wounds pooling underneath his body.

One person passed by in the early morning. Then another, and another. Video footage from a surveillance camera shows at least seven people going by, some turning their heads to look, others stopping to gawk. One even lifted the homeless man's body, exposing what appeared to be blood on the sidewalk underneath him, before walking away.

It wasn't until after the 31-year-old Guatemalan immigrant had been lying there for nearly an hour that emergency workers arrived, and by then, it was too late. Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax -- who police said was stabbed while intervening to help a woman being attacked -- had died." Read the whole story here.


Back in the day, Jesus taught us -er, tried to teach us- a lesson with a similar story:
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Luke 10:30-37
Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
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Some key points to remember:
1. If this was written about America today, it would probably say "Christian preacher" or something like that instead of "priest". Yeah, he is one who kept walking. Oh, and same with the Levite- he'd pretty much be your modern day Christian layman.
2. Also if written today, this Good Samaritan would NOT be translated as a "Good Christian". Probably would be something like the "Good Atheist" etc. Basically, I'm just letting you know that "we" Christians were not picked to be the hero in the parable, but pretty much the opposite case; and I'm guessing that would be the same role we'd get today.
3. Jesus asks who was really the neighbor. This was all spurred on from his command to "Love your neighbor as yourself". Remember how critical this command is for a true Christian to live out? Jesus calls it his "second greatest command" (Matthew 22:39), and we are also told that people will know us by our love (John 13:35). And of course, don't forget 1 Corinthians 13.
4. Sadly, in the current New York story, there really was no Good Samaritan.