Two thousand years ago, a lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” His motives were not pre. He began by asking Jesus a test question on another subject. With Jesus’ response, this lawyer asked Jesus this question to justify . In response Jesus told what we now call the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Jews in Jesus’ day regarded Samaritans as half-breeds and heretics. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., the Babylonians exiled Judea leadership to Mesopotamian people groups and the ancestral lands of Ephraim and Manasseh, two of the twelve tribes of Jews. Over the next few centuries, that people group intermarried with the locals and began practicing a form of Judaism, based solely on the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) and centered around a temple in Samaria.
No love was lost between Jews and Samaritans. Each viewed the others as a repugnant people group. Jesus wanted to puncture the lawyer’s self-righteousness. And, Jesus also wanted to force him to reckon more deeply with the Law in which he was supposedly an expert.
Remember the lawyer’s first question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Knowing the lawyer was attempting to test him, Jesus asked him how he would answer that question. the lawyer pointed to two Scriptures: “Love the Lord your God” and “Love your neighbor.” This was a common Jewish summary of Scripture’s moral teaching, one Jesus himself taught.
God had told the Jewish people that “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” Jesus’ teaching was that we all should love God, our neighbor, and all foreigners in the same manner and that this teaching constituted “the Greatest Commandment”.
The irony in the Parable of the Good Samaritan is the Jewish characters did not follow their Scriptures, but the Samaritan – the foreigner – did. He acted like a neighbor. Those of us who follow Jesus know the other side – however “foreign” they and their beliefs and practices are to us – are still neighbors to be loved.
We all know how difficult it is to even have sympathy for some of those we see on our televisions. With their radical ideals and actions, we bristle at the idea of loving them. With their goal to destroy us and our way of living, how are we expected to love them?
In this politically charged time, it is easy for us to see people who speak up for another candidate than ours as enemies. For some, it is easy for us to see people who are wearing masks as our enemies! (There are many variations on this idea, but all of us understand the point!}
I believe in standing for my beliefs, which I strongly believe are accurate! If I ever decide that my beliefs are incorrect, I will gladly stand for the other side, because I want to live right in this present time! But, those with different opinions and practices are still as much my neighbor as those who stand beside me on the issues. I may never like their ideals, but I must love them as much as I love myself!
Our religious liberties are being tested all the time in the courts of our nation. Some are advocating changes to our “Pledge of Allegiance” to remove the “Under God” phrase. Our churches, nationwide, have been forced to shut their doors. (Thankfully our local government understands the importance of church!} Peaceful protests have become radicalized and turned into riots! Our police departments have been demonized! “new Born” rights to life have been removed in favor of mother’s rights! I could go on!
But, in my standing for what I believe, I must always remember that as much as I hate the cause, I am compeled by our Lord and obligated by His Word to love my neighbor. May we never lose sight of God’s greatest commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
