The parable of the Good Samaritan was always explained to me the same way. Everyone but the Samaritan was too busy to help a man in need, but he took the time, and that's what we should do for others.

However, in light of my new knowledge of Jewish law, that's not really how it went down. The priest and the Levite, both from the same group of religious adherents, passed by the man on the side of the road not because they were busy, but because they were afraid he was dead.

If these men, according to the law, had touched a dead body, they would no longer be ceremonially clean and therefore could not lead religious ceremonies or enter the temple until they had purified themselves (a process usually requiring several days apart from others and often animal sacrifices).

There existed three groups of people during this time: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Samaritans. Pharisees and Sadducees weren't too fond of each other, but got along better than with the Samaritans, who both groups hated a lot. The Levite and the priest were both Sadducees. This meant that they didn't believe in the Oral Torah, the spoken laws, like the Pharisees did. The Samaritans didn't believe in the Oral Torah either, but also didn't believe that Moses got the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai.

The reason the actions of the Levite and priest are so significant is that Levites (remember, one and the same with the priest in our story) were the only ones allowed to become priests (still true). If those men were unclean, everyone who they ministered to would not have a ceremony to attend. Basically, no pastor for the service that Sunday.

The priest's role was to teach the Torah to the common people. But he didn't teach the Oral Torah and its laws. Thus the Pharisees had an entirely different set of laws that they operated by, sometimes laws that conflicted with the written law. The Oral Torah would have said that if someone was hurt and needed help, it didn't matter what the written law was, you need to help them. Since the Sadducees didn't believe in the Oral Torah, the only thing the priest and Levite were concerned about was following the laws that kept them ceremonially clean.

It should be mentioned here that Jesus was most likely a Pharisee and believed in the Oral Torah. Thus, the point He was making in telling this parable was telling the Sadducees that they didn't fully understand the Torah because they didn't know the Oral law and were too concerned about their rituals. He was teaching that regardless of what written law says, you are obligated to help those in need. His job was to promote peace among these dueling groups by saying that it doesn't matter who were talking about (the identity and affiliation of the hurt man is never specified), you need to know the needs of your neighbor and do the best you can to meet those needs.

In light of all this, what are we to do with this parable? Does it have a modern application? I'm not really sure what that might be, but I'm working to find that out.