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:
1. The High Cost of Real Love Means Crosses Boundaries. Luke 10:31-33. We naturally like people like us. In this lesson, it is the hated outsider Samaritan who crosses a boundary. In doing that, Jesus teaches us that our man-made divisions are not a good enough excuse for the lawyer or us. Who might be across the boundary in our life? The addict or homeless, the person from the hated race, or the wrong side of the family, the annoying neighbor who need s Jesus, the dirty poor person who needs a helping hand or maybe the person who works a lowly job at your workplace? The High Cost of Real Love Means Crosses Boundaries. When was the last time the love of God caused you to cross boundaries?
2. The High Cost of Real Love Means Emotional Investment. Luke 10:33. The parable tells us that the Samaritan “took pity” on him. He was moved emotionally. It is easy to suffer from “compassion fatigue.” Compassion fatigue is a new term for me. Psychologists say because there are many calls for help that the public become weary of helping. There are too many needs from hurricanes, mud slides, fires, floods, pandemics, hunger, it is just too much! We see so many needs around us that we get numb to it. We start to ignore people. It is also easier to just click on a Facebook page or a Go fundme page or to throw a couple dollars in a hat than it is to get emotionally invested in someone. The High Cost of Real Love Means Emotional Investment. The Samaritan went to him, pick up, cleaned his wounds, applied oil and bandages, and gave him a little wine. Not because he was a nurse, and professional trained, he just cared.
3. The High Cost of Real Love May Include Money. Luke 10:34-35. What the Samaritan does for this man is substantial financially, especially the final promise. It is easy for us to be willing to give a little, especially if it’s an amount that requires no sacrifice on our part. It is another issue, though, to help someone when it costs us something extra or more! In this parable, Jesus stretches our understanding of real love. The good Samaritan sat the man on his own beast and carried him to an inn. When he pays for his care and then his extended care, we see love in action.
4. The High Cost of Real Love Will Also Include Time. Luke 10:34-35. A similar issue here is time. The Samaritan’s helping takes a while. He bandages him up, loads him up, finds a safe place to leave him, and promises to return to check in. Our time is valuable these days. Most of us are busy. Many of us would be quicker to give up our money than to give up our time. But time commitments are necessary sometimes. Helping the homeless, the addicted, the poor and the sick takes time.
Let us take an example: we have a co-worker who is struggling in her marriage and needs a sincere friend to listen to her and give guidance. What if it is not one fifteen-minute conversation but twenty lunch hours over the next year? Lunch hours that we would rather spend relaxing and decompressing than hearing the same stories again? WHY IT MATTERS SO MUCH: This may lead to the path to life.
We have been concentrating on the good Samaritan of the story, but let’s go back for a moment to the discussion that occasioned the story. Jesus is asked about eternal life and the discussion leads to the two greatest commandments. Jesus praises the Lawyer’s answer and says that following those commands will lead to life. Too often we focus our religion on “me and God” and presume that my relationships with those around me are separate. But this parable is a reminder to us just how important those horizontal relationships are. We must ask ourselves as followers of Christ, “Am I willing to touch them?” One of the most lasting images from all of Jesus’ parables is the image of the two religious leaders passing by on the other side of the road from this half-dead man. Equally arresting is the picture of the Samaritan being willing to bandage his wounds.
When I ask if you are willing to touch them, I do not necessarily mean physically, although there are certainly situations where we need to do that. It could also mean being willing to going to them and listening to their struggles. It could be coming beside them to walk through their struggle. It could be helping them with the things they need to do and in so doing lightening their load. As you think of those around you and who you are going to count as your neighbor, are you willing to help them in their struggle? And perhaps the starting point is simply a willingness to touch their lives. The high cost of real love means a willingness to cross the road and demonstrate God’s love. What the world needs now is love!
