In my last post I noted that my next post would answer the question, “Who are my neighbors?” As I began to fill in the outline that I had developed for my post, I discovered that I needed to answer a second question: “How can I love them?”
Loving someone with whom we are very close, like friends and family, can be hard. However, at least 10 times in Scriptures, we are told to love our neighbor. The obvious questions are: “Who is my neighbor?” and “What does it mean to love my neighbor?”
Jesus answers both of these questions in the Luke 10 record of the encounter between Jesus and an expert in the Jewish law,
23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, 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 neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. (KJV)
Jesus, knowing that the lawyer was asking Him a “gotcha question,” turned the question back around to the lawyer. Jesus replies, “You’re an expert in the law. How do you read it?” This exchange reminds me of one of the modern talk shows where the host grills a guest with tough questions asked to catch the guest in a contradiction or lie.
The lawyer is trying to paint Jesus into a corner from which he can’t escape without stepping on the fresh paint.
However, Jesus turns the question back on the lawyer. The lawyer is now so unsure of how to proceed that he kicks over the can of paint, trapping himself.
Is the Old Testament more neighbor friendly than the New Testament? In the Old Testament, there are more than 120 references to neighbor or neighborhood; while in the New Testament are only slightly more than 20 such references. The lawyer’s response refers back to Leviticus 19:18,
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord. (KJV)
For the 1400 plus years between the time of Leviticus and the time of Jesus, Jewish lawyers and rabbis were continually debating the question asked by the lawyer: “Who is my neighbour?” Most of the strict constructionists said that because the first half of Lev. 19:18 only referred to the children of Israel (“the children of thy people”), the second half should also only refer to the children of Israel. These strict constructionists taught that Israelites had no responsibility to love Gentiles. Many taught that the Israelites had a responsibility to avoid Gentiles completely. In fact, this allowed the children of Israel to despise anyone who wasn’t a “full” child of Isreal. This was carried to the extent of excluding any Israelite who married outside “the faith”, and any “half-breed children” that descended from such a non-sanctioned union.
In His response to the lawyer’s answer, Jesus completely reverses the course of the strict constructionist’s view that neighbor only referred to other Israelites. HIs answer swam in the face of almost all of mainstream Jewish thought of more than a millennium.
Actually how did Jesus answer the lawyer? He tells a story about “a certain,” unidentified man being attacked and severely injured by thieves. In this story, three individuals, two Jewish religious leaders and an unidentified Samaritan, encounter this unfortunate attack victim . The priest and the Levite do nothing to help or even acknowledge the “half dead” individual. Then a member of a hated group of half-breeds, the Samaritans, comes along. This good man not only stops to see if he could help the unfortunate victim, he goes out of his way to get the victim extra help. Jesus then puts the lawyer on the spot with the question of the moment, “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?” The lawyer is caught in his own trap. It is obvious that the two Jewish officials who did nothing could not have been neighborly. However, the lawyer could not bring himself to even say that a Samaritan could be a good neighbor. The lawyer responded, “He that shewed mercy on him.” Then I can see Jesus looking straight at the lawyer and with emphasis saying to him, “Go, and do thou likewise.”
So to answer the foundational questions: Firstly, who is my neighbor? It is any one in need with whom I come in contact.
Secondly, how do I love them? I provide the help that they need. It might be a hand up to help them get on their feet. It might be a shoulder to lean on to help them get around. It might be a roof over their head to give them shelter. It might be a meal to help nourish them. It might be medical assistance to help heal them. It is whatever they need that you can provide.
The point of most parables is to force the audience to place themselves into the story and figure out how to respond. So here’s the question to you: Who is your neighbor? and How should you love them? From this Good Samaritan story, we now have hundreds of Good Samaritan hospitals and shelters run by service agencies, offering love and aid to the needy. We also have hundreds of state and local laws, known as Good Samaritan laws, offering legal protection to individuals who in good faith come to the assistance of another individual in dire need. Paraphrasing the question from an old television game show, “Who do you love?”
My post next week asks the questions: Is there a difference between ethics and ethical behavior? Can we mandate ethics, or is our best expectation compliance at the behavioral level?