Have you ever questioned...Who is my neighbour? The person living next door to me? The people living on my block? The ones who are nice to me? The ones who agree with my thinking? The people living in my town? The people living in my province? The people living in my country? My countries allies? I think that we over analyse this question.
Who is my neighbour? I like what Jesus has to say about this. I believe this lesson is as applicable today as it was 2000 years ago.
One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’”
“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”
Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was travelling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I'm here.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbour to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” Luke 10:25-37 New Living Translation (NLT)
The next time you get to help someone, do it. The Samaritan could have walked on past, waited for someone else to help - maybe someone of the same faith, rationalized that it would be too expensive to care for this wounded man, worried that the man had alternative motives for getting beat up, or just thought that it was too dangerous...The Samaritan could have done all these things and had justification. But he didn't. He showed mercy.
And Jesus said - "Now go and do the same."
Who is my neighbour? I think Jesus answered that question very clearly. :)
