They would most certainly have crossed the street to avoid one another.
He and the rest of the audience were familiar with the fact that Jews and Samaritans hated each other. In Luke 10, Jesus was speaking to a Jewish lawyer, someone well acquainted with the history of Israel and of this long-standing enmity between the two groups. “They were the despised enemies of the Jews.” The Samaritans were influenced by pagan traditions. This group did not adhere to Jewish law - God’s law - as strictly as the Pharisees did. When “Assyria conquered Israel” in 722 BC, “they took most of its people into captivity” and “resettle the land” with foreigners “intermarriages also took place.”
Samaritans appear to have emerged from the intermarriage of Jews and pagans. Christ often cuts deep into the heart of what we believe His truth frequently threatens our comfort. “The Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” ( Hebrews 4:12). “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise” ( Luke 10:36-37). How do we relate to people who are different from us? What is our responsibility towards the many hurting people in our world? Who is our neighbor? The Parable of the Good Samaritan raises many questions.
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