Articles
“Who is My Neighbor?”
“Who is My Neighbor?”
By Derek Long In Luke 10:25-37 we read what is often referred to as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It says, “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?’ So he answered and said, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”’ And He said to him, ‘You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.’ But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Then Jesus answered and said: ‘A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, “Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.” So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?’ And he said, ‘He who showed mercy on him.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise’” (NKJV). Many valuable and important lessons can be learned from the teaching given by Jesus on this occasion. In this article, we want to examine just a few of these lessons. • The lawyer asks some good questions. The first question he asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” is an important question for every individual to consider. He understands he must love his neighbor as himself and a question about, “who is my neighbor?” could be a good question in light of such a command. The problem is not so much with the questions themselves which the lawyer asked but the motivation behind him asking those questions. We are told the lawyer initially asked his question to test Jesus. Sadly some people ask really good questions like this lawyer did but their objective like the lawyer is to simply stump someone or show someone else’s ignorance. The lawyer could not have asked a question which would stump Jesus. The second question asked by the lawyer was asked from the motivation of wanting to justify himself. Sadly people today ask questions with the intent of trying to justify some behavior they presently are in or some behavior they want to engage in. The lawyer had the right answer. He knew what the law told him to do but he was not content to simply do what the law commanded. Do we have the right answer to various questions and know what to do but ask further questions not out of genuine interest but out of a willingness to justify ourselves? If so, we need to change our motivation and become an honest seeker of the truth. • Jesus responds to the lawyers question initially by asking the lawyer a question. Jesus basically gets the lawyers own answer to his own question. In teaching others, it is sometimes useful to have them explain to us what their understanding is or what they already know before beginning to teach them. The lawyer cites two Old Testament commandments which Jesus would point out were the greatest commandments upon which the rest of the law hung (Matthew 22:34-40). The lawyers problem was clearly not a lack of information but an unwillingness to submit to what he knew to do. Do we have the same problem (James 4:17)? Jesus’ response to the second question is a parable illustrating what it truly means to be a neighbor. A neighbor is not simply someone who lives near you or has something in common with you. Loving your neighbor picks up anyone we have the opportunity to love. • Most of us are probably familiar with these two great commandments cited by the lawyer. Do we live by these commandments or seek to find a justification for our failure to do what these commands say? Do we feel we can limit our love to certain people who are like us, are friendly to us, do us good, etc. or do we recognize our need to love those who even would do wrong toward us (Matthew 5:43-48)? Do we feel we can exclude certain people from the category of those we love? If so, we need to learn the same lesson Jesus was trying to teach the lawyer in Luke 10
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