<P> Joel B. Green writes that Jesus' final question (which, in something of a "twist," reverses the question originally asked): </P> <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd>... presupposes the identification of "anyone" as a neighbor, then presses the point that such an identification opens wide the door of loving action . By leaving aside the identity of the wounded man and by portraying the Samaritan traveler as one who performs the law (and so as one whose actions are consistent with an orientation to eternal life), Jesus has nullified the worldview that gives rise to such questions as, Who is my neighbor? The purity - holiness matrix has been capsized . And, not surprisingly in the Third Gospel, neighborly love has been concretized in care for one who is, in this parable, self - evidently a social outcast </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd>... presupposes the identification of "anyone" as a neighbor, then presses the point that such an identification opens wide the door of loving action . By leaving aside the identity of the wounded man and by portraying the Samaritan traveler as one who performs the law (and so as one whose actions are consistent with an orientation to eternal life), Jesus has nullified the worldview that gives rise to such questions as, Who is my neighbor? The purity - holiness matrix has been capsized . And, not surprisingly in the Third Gospel, neighborly love has been concretized in care for one who is, in this parable, self - evidently a social outcast </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> <Dl> <Dd>... presupposes the identification of "anyone" as a neighbor, then presses the point that such an identification opens wide the door of loving action . By leaving aside the identity of the wounded man and by portraying the Samaritan traveler as one who performs the law (and so as one whose actions are consistent with an orientation to eternal life), Jesus has nullified the worldview that gives rise to such questions as, Who is my neighbor? The purity - holiness matrix has been capsized . And, not surprisingly in the Third Gospel, neighborly love has been concretized in care for one who is, in this parable, self - evidently a social outcast </Dd> </Dl>

Who is our neighbor according to the parable of the good samaritan