Blood for Your Neighbor:
Becoming the Good Samaritan

by Dr. John Armitage

The second great commandment instructs those seeking eternal life to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Through the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus answers the question, “who is my neighbor?” by showing this relationship stretches beyond geography and community definitions to include strangers. By showing mercy to anyone who is need of help, without regard to kinship or pre-existing bonds, we can follow the direction given by Christ.

Donating blood is a behavior that mirrors the Good Samaritan’s actions in several ways.

1. Most US blood centers operate across large territories, which means the recipient is not likely to reside in the same city or county as the donor. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the biggest blood organizations to send units to patients in states beyond the one where the collection occurred. Hence, the odds are very high that your donation will end up benefiting a stranger.*

2. In cases of severe injury, blood is one of the first treatments given to stabilize the victim. For the traveler in the Bible who had been assaulted by thieves, the first aid he receives is also medical. After seeing the victim, the Samaritan “…had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine…” The other acts of mercy (…transporting the man, lodging him in the inn, nursing him overnight, and providing for funds to cover his recuperation) could only follow this initial trauma care.

3. Gospel commentators have noted that the parable of the Good Samaritan reveals how Christians ought to behave towards their neighbors on a habitual, day-to-day basis—not just in rare, emergency situations. Incredibly, regular blood donation is a perfect way build up the habit of caring for strangers. Because blood donation is not harmful to the donor, it can be done up to six times in one year, or every other month.

* A rare exception is a “directed donation,” which allows a transfusion from a specific donor to go to pre-selected patient. Typically this is done for a medical reason, such as using a relative with a matching blood type as to provide a unit that is otherwise so rare that it cannot be found reliably from the general donor pool.

LUKE 10:29-37

But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”