e the principle on which he proceeds to defend
himself: conscious that love to neighbours is in his heart a very narrow
thing, he conducts his argument so as to justify its narrowness. If he
can show that his neighbours are limited to a small circle of relatives,
with the addition perhaps of some chosen individuals beyond the line of
blood, he may yet be able to live on good terms with himself as a keeper
of the law; accordingly, in order to form a basis for his own defence,
he inquires, "Who is my neighbour?"

The parable constitutes the answer. But before we proceed to examine its
contents, it is of great importance to observe that it is not a direct
answer to the scribe's question. It is the answer which the Lord saw
meet to give, but it is not a decision on the case which had been
submitted for adjudication. In his question the scribe contemplated
other people, and speculated upon who had the right to receive kindness:
the answer of Jesus, on the contrary, contemplates the scribe himself,
and inquires whether he is prepared to bestow kindness. As to those who
should receive our love there is no limit: the real subject of inquiry
concerns the man who bestows it. The question is not, Who is my
neighbour? but, Am I neighbourly? This is the line in which the parable
proceeds. It does not supply the scribe with an answer to the question
which he had put; but it supplies him with another question which he
desired to evade. He is not permitted to ride off upon a speculative
inquiry about the abstract rights of other men; he is pinned down to a
personal practical duty. "A certain man went down from Jerusalem," &c.
It is a narrow, dreary mountain pass. By nature it is fitted to be a
haunt of robbers; if there are any robbers in the country, they will
certainly gravitate to this spot. In point of fact it was notoriously
unsafe for travellers in that day, and it is equally dangerous still. A
particular portion of the road acquired the name of the _path of blood_,
and under the feeble government of the Turks, as well as in more ancient
times, it has well deserved its appellation. The scene of the event
therefore is laid in a place which is eminently suitable to its
character: the audience who heard the story first would at once and
fully recognise its appropriateness.

Robbers assailed the solitary traveller, and after plundering him of his
money, left him so severely wounded that he could do nothing to help
himself, and must