03.06.18 A.D. 7 Samaritans Defile the Temple

By this time the anger and bitterness between Jews and their Samaritan neighbors was intense. Among the Samaritans, it was common knowledge that any dead animal or person that touched a priest or Levite would defile him and prevent him from performing his duties in the temple. Furthermore, if anything dead was brought into the Jewish temple, it too would become defiled.^[1] Knowing this, a group of Samaritans infiltrated the temple and defiled it by throwing dead men’s bones in the temple yard and sanctuary.  It was done for no other reason than pure spitefulness. Into this socially explosive environment Jesus taught His listeners to love their neighbors, including the Samaritans. Actions as this one made the teachings of the Good Samaritan and the healing of the Samaritan leper all the more stunning to the Jewish people, especially the leading Pharisees.

[1]. See “Defile” in Appendix 26.