Today's Gospel in Art - The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan by Maximilien Luce 1896, © Christie's New York, 2 November 2011, lot 310, sold $134,000

Gospel of 5th October 2020 - Luke 10:25-37

There was a lawyer who, to disconcert Jesus, stood up and said to him, 'Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? What do you read there?' He replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.' 'You have answered right,' said Jesus 'do this and life is yours.'

But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbour?' Jesus replied, 'A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. "Look after him," he said "and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have." Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands' hands?' 'The one who took pity on him' he replied. Jesus said to him, 'Go, and do the same yourself.'

Reflection on the Painting

Our painting today is by prolific Neo-Impressionist painter, Maximilien Luce. The softness of the pointillist style reflects the tenderness of our Good Samaritan parable. The whole idea behind pointillism is that when you place two distinct colours next to each other, the colours will optically blend into a different colour. It was a revolutionary painting technique pioneered by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in Paris in the mid-1880s. They believed that ultimately the viewer's eye would blend the various colours, rather than mixing colours conventionally on a painter's palette. Look at the sea, for example, in our painting composed of yellows and greens, to create the illusion of a blue sea.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most popular parables, if not the parable that speaks the most to us. Its message is simple: a call to Christ-like love and compassion. Whilst we can have many angles to this parable, what struck me today is that the Samaritan isn't named. He is just known as 'the Good Samaritan'. That is probably when in the eyes of God we do the best worthwhile work… when no-one sees us doing the charitable works… just quietly working away in the background. There are many people who quietly work away for God without anyone noticing. Recently in my parish placement over the summer, I can think of many such people who do so much for the parish, unnoticed and discreetly working away with deep generosity of heart. They are our modern-day good Samaritans...

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/565

Christian Art - www.christian.art