Luke 10:25-29 states:
“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘What is written in the Law?’ he replied. ‘How do you read it?’ He answered, ‘‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’’ ‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied. ‘Do this and you will live.’ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’”
The expert’s answer to Jesus’ question comes from Leviticus 19:18 which states, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself…” What is interesting to note is the difference in meanings of the word “neighbor” as written in Levitical Law and stated by the expert. The expert regarded this word as to mean someone who is nearby, literally a neighbor. In Levitical Law, this word in Hebrew is “re.a” which could also mean: friend, companion, or another, weaker, person. It is valid to assume that the “expert” in the law knew this distinction and that is why he wished to justify himself by asking his second question.
It is not by accident that the man’s name is unknown; just as it is assumed that it is not by accident that the thorn in Paul’s side remains a mystery. It allows the reader to insert himself into the picture. Any Christ follower can attest to the fact that the justification of sin is a normal process when trying to deal with the reality of imperfection; because sin is just that, imperfection, or missing the bullseye which is righteousness in God’s eyes. The expert knew his sin, and thought that there must be a gray area somewhere in the Law when it comes to loving other people; especially those people that were outside of the Jewish race. Jesus might have been the wrong person to ask if he was seeking justification because Jesus was on a mission to find the broken, and find the outcast, and break down the barriers and restrictions of the old Law in order to establish a new Kingdom full on new grace.
Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the good Samaritan which is summarized as: A man going from Jerusalem to Jericho was robbed and left for dead. A priest and a Levite pass the man and both continue walking on the other side of the road. A Samaritan stops and helps the man by bandaging his wounds, taking him to an inn, and paying for his stay there.
The man that got left for dead was most likely a Jewish man, which is significant because Samaritans and Jews did not associate with each other. The Samaritans were half-Jew and half-Gentile, which means they sometimes practiced idol worship or that of different gods and they lived in such a way that the Jews did not want any part of them. Yet, the man could not rely on his actual “neighbors” who were the priest and the Levite people because they couldn’t enter the temple if they were unclean in any way, which restricts them from touching the man who was on the brink of death. The Samaritan saw this man that was desperate, and in need of a friend that was strong enough to help him, so he did. He gave the innkeeper a substantial amount of money (2 denarii), and even said he would come back and pay any extra expenses if needed.
Jesus wanted this man, and all of us, to realize what loving God is really about: loving people. Not just the people that look like us, or act like us, or think like us, but the person that is so, completely opposite and less fortunate. It is only by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit overflowing out of us that we could even have enough compassion to help a person like that. There is no gray area when it comes to the love of God, so there shouldn’t be a gray area when it comes to His children loving each other. If we are to be like God, we should be able to see each other the way God sees us; which is through the lens of Jesus Christ who covered all sins and made us perfect in God’s eyes. So, who is my neighbor? My neighbor is anyone in need that I can show compassion towards and help, not out of self-righteousness, but out of the outpouring of love and forgiveness showed to me first by God Himself.
But God... 