Luke 10:25-37
25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 26He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ 27He 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 neighbour as yourself.’ 28And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ 30Jesus 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. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He 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. 35The 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.” 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ 37He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’
BLOG DISCUSSION QUESTION: So what is Jesus answer to the question, "Who is my neighbor?"
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5 comments:
Everyone. But Jesus' example is someone that we are unlikely to care for. Sometimes it may be easy for some to provide money as a means of caring, but the Samaritan didn't start with money, not was it the neighbor's immediate need. This is the passage that PJ used last fall in a meeting at church. I had not paid attention to the TWO questions Jesus asked before. 1.What is written? and the tougher 2. What do you read? (or as Martin Luther would say "What does this mean?" Both important as we read scripture.
RIGHT ON rjq== our neighbor is everyone. Jesus is giving us a great example of what we are to do to protect and provide for our neighbors. THis is a huge responsibility, not to be taken lightly but literally. We have work people lets get to it!!!
Sometimes "everyone" is so encompassing--we "don't help anyone"--is you know what I mean. Everyone is our neighbor, but it helps to put faces with "the everyone" and walk in their shoes, doesn't it? I like the saying, "Go easy on people, because everyone is going through some kind of struggle that we don't know about." Helping our neighbor doesn't necesarily mean bringing over a casserole or hot dish...but even a word of encouragement can go a long ways.
This "pay back" idea that we've been reading about....really works. We may not be able to pay back to the people that help us, but there are certainly lots of possibilities to pay it back to others...sorta like playing tag???
We find it particularly hard to drive by a "person on a busy corner with a sign that says, "Need food for a hungry family" and yet with all the possibilities of your gift money not being used in the right manner, what does a person do?????
The man who precedes this parable is hoping that he can "justify" himself by figuring out who his neighbor might be...love your neighbor as yourself can be pretty easy if your neighbor falls into a category that you find agreeable.
So, what is Jesus' answer to who is your neighbor? Well, it seems to me that he says in this parable that that question is the wrong question. The question that one should ask instead is, "who needs you to be their neighbor?" When our eyes are opened, we might find a surprising answer.
Some years ago, l learned that Mr. Rogers of TV fame crafted his theme song after this parable.
This parable reminds me of how God has been working on me the past few years. And that is, "there are only two people in the world, myself and Jesus"! Think about it.
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