We have been talking about love over the last several weeks and today we are continuing on that journey. I mentioned the parable of the Good Samaritan as one of the Jesus’s examples of loving your neighbor, and today we are going to dig into this parable to deepen our understanding of loving our neighbor. Today we are going to go through this parable. Yesterday at the men’s breakfast we discussed this parable, so there maybe some familiar aspects to those who were at breakfast. We are going to do things a little different than I usually do, we are going to look at the text as a whole, not just verse by verse.

Luke 10:25–28 ESV

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Here we see the start of a conversation similar to what we looked at in Mark. We see a similar answer to the question of eternal life. Loving God and loving others. Jesus told the lawyer that his answer was correct, if we love God and love others we will have life, true life. Then the lawyer goes a little further trying to justify himself for how he lived his life and Jesus answers him with a parable.

Luke 10:29–33 ESV

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

Jesus’s answer to the question of who was his neighbor is found in the parable of the Good Samaritan. We see that Jesus uses two of Israels religious elite and one person that the Jews had a deep seated hatred towards. One thing we must keep in mind as we read this is that this is a parable, it is not a true story, so we must be careful not to add to much into it, like what were the thoughts going through the priest and the Levite’s head. We can make speculations, but we do not know for sure.And we must also be careful not to over spiritualize this parable. We must take the text for what it said to those listening. The point is that neither the wise and understanding nor the proud and ruling practiced being loving neighbors. They both passed by on the other side. They had no desire to stop and help the beaten man. Jesus uses the one person who the Jews would hate, a Samaritan. The Samaritan showed compassion, which is what Jesus did to all those whom he interacted with. As the church we are to take Jesus’s place following His example showing compassion to the world around us.

Luke 10:34–37 ESV

34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

We see the compassion of the Samaritan. He not only took care of his wounds but he put him up in a hotel and paid for him to stay until he was better. Once Jesus tells His story He asks a question. Which one of these was justified, and the lawyer says “the one who showed him mercy” he would not even say that it was the Samaritan. Jesus then gives direction to go and do likewise, go and show compassion to those who we encounter.

Love Your Neighbor

Jesus and Luke sought to illustrate that the love of one’s neighbor must transcend all natural or human boundaries such as race, nationality, religion, and economic or educational status. One commentator sums it up this way. “Finally, we should note the recurrent theme of the great reversal. Those who are fulfilling the scriptural injunctions and entering the kingdom are not the expected ones, for the priest and the Levite demonstrated that they loved neither God nor their neighbor. Strangely enough the outcast, a cursed Samaritan, satisfied the requirements of the law. Once again the last became first and the first last.”

With all of the division in our world today, it is important for us as Christians to show the world the love of Christ. Truly loving our neighbors. Faith and Love in our Lord and Savior following His example. The hero of this story is a Samaritan caring for a Jew; the priest and the Levite—professional religious workers—are not heroes at all. When we were discussing this yesterday at our men’s breakfast Bro. Bobby made a good point and it is this The question we must answer is not “who is my neighbor?” but “To whom can I be a neighbor”, how can I be a good neighbor to my wife, my family, my friends, my coworkers, my enemies. Love is not an emotion it is an action, we Love God and it is an action, we love our neighbor and it is an action.