Good Neighbors
Who is my neighbor?
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ 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.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ - Luke 10:25-37
The lawyer asks Jesus to clarify. Who is my neighbor?
He gets his answer in a parable. We know the story of the Good Samaritan who stops to help the man and then offers the innkeeper money to take care of him.
To us, in our time, this story sounds a lot different than it would have at the time, to the faithful Jews. They would have understood why the Levite and priest passed by without stopping, and they would have been horrified to hear a Samaritan could be the good neighbor.
We call people Good Samaritans when they go out of their way to help people in trouble, but would we dare to do the same?
Jesus said, Go and do likewise. He expects us to care enough about everyone we encounter in need.
If it was easy, we still might not do it. The idea of stopping to help someone who is beaten and left for dead may be scary or offensive. Who would want to get involved?
Of course, we could just dial 911 and leave it to the police to deal with. That is something you couldn't do back in Roman times.
And maybe that is how we manage to keep our distance from one another.
I wonder if Jesus would think that enough.
More to come...