Loving Through A Pandemic - The High Cost Of Real Love

I am always amazed to see those in Scripture and in life, who are willing to question Jesus and his word without any intention of learning and submitting to his word. There is a lawyer in the lesson who wished to make trial of the skill of Jesus in solving the intricate and difficult question as to how to obtain salvation. Jesus was probably teaching in some house or courtyard. He probably somewhere in or near Bethany, near the road that passes from Jerusalem to Jericho. The lawyer stood up to attract attention to himself, maybe to allow his appearance to give emphasis to his question and its answer. Remember, Jesus was teaching on love. His emphasis was that His followers were to love God with all their heart, soul and mind and then to love their neighbor as he loves himself.

The scripture clearly points out the lawyer’s motives: he sought to justified himself. I have found that when people complain or criticize a clear principle of Scripture, they motive are the same. When we seek to justify ourselves, we limit what we can receive. Self-justification can blind our vision, hinder our perception and warp our understanding. In 1John 4:20, there is a clear teaching that seems to trouble many. “If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” If this Scripture were understood, the problem of racism could be solved. It is probably difficult for the world to believe the Church’s message or really God’s message of love because of how we lived. We tend to struggle with verses like this because we seek to justify ourselves.

What a shocking response when Jesus said to the lawyer, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” The lawyer had asked his question simply as a test. You see God’s Law to the lawyer was simply matter for speculation and theory, so when Jesus used the word "do", it was very startling. It showed the difference between the lawyer’s view and Jesus’ views of the law. The lawyer had hoped by his question to expose Jesus as one who set aside the law, but Jesus had exposed the lawyer as one who merely theorized about the law, and himself as one who advocated the doing of God’s Law. Sometimes I wonder if we are only hearers rather than doers of the law. But the lawyer, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? The lawyer felt he could justify his conduct if permitted to define the word "neighbor." He asked this question, hoping to find a loophole of security and maintain his public standing and may be quiet his conscience. He was probably expecting the Lord to tell him that his fellow Jews was such; instead of which, the Lord tells him that he ought to be a neighbor to any man and every man in need. Right in a country that wants to be great again, maybe we need to ask, who is my neighbor? The lawyer definition of neighbor only included fellow Jews. Yet followers of Jesus must see it differently.

Jesus tells a parable, probably pointing to road that led from Jerusalem to Jericho. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was an eighteen-mile-long road, through desert and rocky places that had a reputation. The road was a common hiding place for bandits. So many robberies and murders were committed there that it was called the bloody way. Jericho was situated in the valley going down from Jerusalem. About twelve thousand priests and Levites dwelt there, who all attended the service of the temple and used that same road to commute. This road was the most public road in all Judea, as it was the grand thoroughfare between these two cities. Please do not make this man of the parable a careless or unconcern man. He is an ordinary man, just like any one in the room. His simple must run the race before him. His journey took him that way. He could choose his race, or the place where trouble came upon him. No one would choose sickness or poverty or homelessness. Yet all of the above maybe your neighbor. The story of the good Samaritan and his compassion is instructive and challenges each of us to consider how we treat our neighbors.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR: Loving our neighbor is not difficult if we get to define “neighbor.” We often define “neighbor” as those we like and who like us back. People like us who we are comfortable around. Further, we define “love” cheaply: liking a Facebook post, offering a passing word of encouragement, attending a one-hour event to support a cause, feeling sympathy toward someone. That is pretty shallow “love.” We are called to what might be termed “inconvenient love.” That is, love that pushes us out of our comfort zone. Love that asks more of us than the slightest of sacrifices. WHAT DID LOVING ONES NEIGHBOR LOOKED LIKE TO JESUS: