Recap: We are saved in Christ Jesus. We abide in Him to be fruitful and live an abundant life. He commanded that we should love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.
The people saw Jesus as a rabbi - a teacher. So, it was natural for the teachers and experts of the Jewish law to ask Jesus the most debated questions. The Jews of that day did consider important the law written in Leviticus on loving the neighbor as oneself. The debate was about who this neighbor was. In their mind, they had decided already that the Romans and the non-Jewish people were enemies. They probably thought the unclean mixed group of Samaritan people and the greedy tax collectors were also to be considered their enemies. Their question was to identify who their neighbor was among the Jewish people they interacted with. There were the priests - the highest class of spiritual people who could go into the temple, the Levites - who were the people who served in the tabernacle, the leaders, and the commoners. So who was their neighbor? Who were they bound to love according to the law? For if someone isn't their neighbor, they don't have to love them right? Let us read the rest of the conversation.
Luke 10: 29-37 He wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
I guess it is natural for us to group people as a family - that is related to us through blood, have groups based on nationality, culture, language, vocation, and career. We call some among them as friends, some as acquaintances, or even some as enemies. This grouping sits well in our minds. However, as Gordon Keddie describes, Jesus is teaching that our neighbor is ‘Anyone in need that you can help at the time, anyone that you meet up within the day-to-day providence of God.' Kenneth Bailey writes that the parable gives us a dynamic concept of neighbors. This category called 'neighbors' cuts across all these known and comfortable groups that we have thought of, and it even groups friends and enemies alike! This group is not based on whether I like them or not, and not even based on the commonality in interests or goals. This category combines people from different social, cultural, and spiritual walks together into one uneasy mix. It is not just an established and known number of people that I have to be accountable for. It is also not this random person in Somalia whom I have not met, whom I can presumably love by saying a prayer or two, sending a cheque, and be done with. This categorization demands that I be alert every day to look and identify new neighbors that God is introducing in my life.
The command to love this new category called 'neighbors' puts me in so many difficult crossroads and adds uncertainty to an otherwise scheduled life. Its highly probable that the Priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan had errands or events that they needed to attend. Stopping in such a road that is lonely and full of robbers doesn't seem practically wise, so should they stop and help, or go and call for help, or presume that some other larger group of people might come later to help this poor guy. Stopping and helping a wounded guy would make the priest and the Levite ceremonially unclean, so is it necessary to postpone their spiritual commitments or presume that there are others who might help. What if this was a fake accident that is trying to lure and rob people who stop in the way? What if that man was already dead, or too much in a worse state, that he would die anyway. Is it necessary to spend too much on a dying person, or should one give for a better charity? And so many more what-ifs are to be answered. This categorization demands that I rely on God's guidance and wisdom every day for crossing these crossroads.
The priest and the Levite were probably wondering if the wounded man was a neighbor according to the law. However, the Samaritan behaved like a loving neighbor even if the wounded man and the other Jews would have preferred to put him in the category of enemy. Did you notice? The expert in the law asked Jesus, 'Who is my neighbor?'. After narrating the parable Jesus asked in return, 'Who was the neighbor to the man?' I am reminded of Ephesians 2:10. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. I think God decides who our neighbors would be, and sends them across our ways. But, it is for us to decide who we are a neighbor to, by what we choose to do with whom He sends our way. So, who were you a neighbor to today?
At times it is easy to be a neighbor to someone who is grateful in return. But, what about those who keep pestering or take you for granted? How many times should we forgive them and still remain neighborly? That's the question for tomorrow.
Link to the previous article: Which command is the most important? Link to the next article: How many times should I forgive?
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