My sister has a 75-pound poodle named Cub, who is too smart for his own good. He knows the rules and how he's supposed to behave, and yet he is constantly trying to bend the rules. For example, if you ask him to go to his dog bed, he will go, but he will barely sit right on the edge of his bed. It is as if he is saying, "I will go and sit on my bed, but barely and on my terms." If we are being honest, many of us do not behave much better than this naughty 75-pound poodle. We often look for exceptions to the rules or ways to bend the rules. This was the case when a religious leader approached Jesus and asked what the greatest commandments were in Luke 10. Jesus confirmed what he already knew: the greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor (verse 28). In response to this confirmation from Jesus, the man asked a question, hoping to bend the rule: "Who is my neighbor?" (verse 29).
Jesus responded to the religious leader’s question in Luke 10, "Who is my neighbor?” with a story. In this story, a Jewish man was attacked on the side of the road and left for dead (verse 30). A priest and temple assistant walked by this man, saw him, and did nothing to help him (verses 31 and 32). Then, a Samaritan man walked by this man who had been left for dead on the side of the road and cared for him and took him to an inn to be taken care of. He even paid this man's medical bills. As Jesus told the story where a despised Samaritan was the hero of the story and not the two religious leaders in the story, people would have gasped. After all, Jews despised Samaritans in Jesus' day. And yet, the Samaritan man is the one who showed neighborly love. After telling the story, Jesus asked the religious leader a question, “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” (verse 36). Begrudgingly, the religious leader answered, "the one who showed him mercy" (verse 36). Indeed, this Samaritan man is the only one in the story who showed neighborly love. Although Jews did not get along with Samaritans, and vice versa, the Samaritan in this story showed no partiality when he saw this Jewish man on the side of the road left for dead. This is the example Jesus gave the religious leader and us today to follow.
The religious leader in this story was looking for an exception to the command, "Love your neighbor." He wanted a definition of who his neighbors were so that he would be exempt from loving some people. He was completely missing the point. There is no exception to the command to love our neighbors. We are to love everyone around us, even when we disagree and even when we have differences with them. We are even to love the people who are difficult for us to love. If someone is around us, we are to love them with no exceptions. May each one of us follow the example of the Samaritan in this story and love anyone whom we come in contact with.
We were asked during the weekend message who we would hope would not be included in Jesus’ definition of neighbor so that we could be excused from showing them love. Who is that person for you? Who are you looking for a loophole for so that you don't have to show love to them? Share your answer to that question with God in prayer today. Ask Him to change your heart to give you love for all people, including those who are difficult to love.
29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
