Command 40 : Love Your Neighbor | Day 277

Identify Your Neighbor!

The lawyer asked a sincere-sounding question intending to trick Jesus: "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus responded, "What is written in the law? how readest thou?" The lawyer answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." Jesus told him, "Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." The lawyer then sought to justify himself and asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?” (See Luke 10:25-29.)

God's definition of *neighbor* includes every man, woman, and child on the earth, and so should ours.

What was the lawyer trying to justify? In Israel, the lawyers were from among the Pharisees and were experts in the Law of Moses. They had narrowed God's definition of *neighbor* to include only fellow Jews, and they had no dealings with Gentiles, especially the Samaritans. The contempt that the Jews had for the people of Samaria can be seen in their verbal attack of Jesus in John 8:48: “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?"

A legal mind tends to think in terms of case studies and gives close attention to the precise meanings of words. Therefore, Jesus answered the lawyer's question with a parable that would have had profound meaning to him. It was about a certain man who was robbed, beaten, and left to die on the road. Both a priest and a Levite saw the injured man but did nothing to help him.

Finally, a Samaritan came by and had compassion on the victim. He interrupted his own schedule, treated and bound up the man's wounds, put the stranger on his donkey, and transported him to the nearest inn. When they arrived at the inn, the Samaritan stayed with him through the night and then made arrangements with the innkeeper to nurse him back to health, promising to personally pay for all of the man's expenses. (See Luke 10:30-36.)

The lawyer would have known that the Law of Moses clearly stated: “Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again” (Deuteronomy 22:4). The Law also stated: “If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him” (Exodus 23:5). If the Jews were required to give aid to an enemy's animal, how much more were they required to give assistance to a Samaritan?

Rather than asking "Who is my neighbor?" we should ask ourselves "Whose neighbor am I?"

At the conclusion of the parable, Jesus asked, "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?" The lawyer answered, "He that showed mercy on him." Jesus replied, "Go, and do thou likewise” (see Luke 10:36-37).

Are we guilty of loving only those who are close to us? Has there been a time when we have seen someone in need and walked by without giving any assistance? Let's recognize that every person we meet is our neighbor, regardless of his religion, ethnic origin, social status, age, or economic condition, and let's purpose from now on to be good neighbors.