They worshiped the same God in theory, but had different scriptures, different holy sites, but a history of mutual hatred. Each side viewed the other as defiled, heretical, and other. For a devout you, a Samaritan was the opposite of neighbor. More like a despised outsider. Yet here in Jesus' story, it's a Samaritan who approaches our wounded friend.   He comes near and his heart is filled with compassion. He immediately sets about saving a stranger's life. He cleans them up as best he can. And lifts him up and brings him to safety, sparing no expense. Whatever you need, I will cover it when I return. In other words, whatever it takes, I'm invested in this man's survival.   This is extravagant mercy. It is costly, it's risky, it's messy. And Jesus deliberately makes a hero of a story. A person who, by all accounts, should have been a victory victim, an enemy of the victim. If the wounded man was a Jew, which is implied, then it is his enemy that Samaritan who saved him, whereas his fellow Judeans left him for dead.   You can almost hear the gasp of the crowd. It's hard to overstate how offensive this would've sounded to some of Jesus' listeners. It's as if Jesus told them a story about a devout Christian pastor who walks by someone in dire need, and then a Muslim immigrant or an atheist comes along and is the one who shows the love of Christ.