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 neighbor 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 neighbor?”
Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling 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. 32 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 neighbor 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
Love your neighbor as yourself. We easily love, or most of the time, love our friends, our family. Why is that so much easier? Is it because they are like us? They treat us good, and we like that? They accept us for who we are, and we like that? But what about that neighbor! You know the one. The one that doesn’t keep their yard looking good and you spend thousands of dollars and many man hours manicuring yours. That couple that just dresses weird or has all those tattoos. What about that one that has drastically different political views from me? Do I really need to love them as well? Or do we put limits on who we feel like loving?
What thoughts do you have when you read this parable? Does it upset you that people would just pass by and not help someone in need? Do you say to yourself “I would stop”? How many times do we pass by a person in need because “someone else” can help them? Have you seen cell phone video of a terrible event and wondered why someone was filming instead of stepping in to help? Have you personally witnessed someone being harassed but you did not intervene? We’ve all been in a situation when someone is talking badly about another person. Do we step in and defend the person? If not, do we choose to ignore the situation or possibly even join in on the negative talk? Why is that? Why don’t we get involved? Is it that we are too busy or feel it’s not our problem?
In other cases, we see people who risk their life to pull someone from a burning car or house. They don’t think twice about jumping in to help. What makes them different than the people in the previous scenarios? Jesus’ parable talked about the religious men who passed by a person in need but ignored him, while the despised Samaritan was the one who stopped to help. That hits home! We are blessed, as followers of Christ, to be able to learn from His teachings how to love one another. Jesus isn’t telling a simple moralistic story here. He’s telling us about the heart of God and what He Himself is doing for us. I mean, think about it. Jesus is the Ultimate Good Samaritan! We are all in the ditch of brokenness, poverty, and despair. We have all been mugged and robbed of our true humanity. We are all lying on the road half-dead and well on our way to the grave. And God didn’t have to come rescue us. He could have very rightly set a limit on how much He would do for us. But Jesus shows us that the Law of Love is much bigger than the Law of Limits. God has made the decision to “cross over.”
He didn’t pass on by. Jesus came into this world to rescue us. He gave His life for us. That is so powerful! In response to His love and sacrifice, we are given the opportunity to love our neighbors and jump in when needed. There are opportunities all around us. Co-workers who are harassed, talked about behind their backs, down on their luck, suffering emotionally. We should not just pass by someone who is stranded on the side of the road. We assume they have a phone and can call for assistance but that may not be the case. People who have lost their homes to natural disasters. They need enormous amounts of help. What will we do in circumstances such as these?
We can always find a reason for passing by, but now is the time for everyone to step up and be good Samaritans to those around us who are in need.
