Luke 10: 29 – 37 The Good Samaritan

Luke 10: 29 – 37 The Good Samaritan

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.' Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

The lawyer who just summarized our entire faith in under 30 words asks another key question: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus replies with one of his most famous parables, The Good Samaritan. Of the three men who came upon the man in need only one, and that one the least likely, responded. The other two, the priest and the Levite, passed him by. The unlikely person, a Samaritan, was a “neighbor” to the man set upon by robbers. This is a powerful teaching that, as Jesus sees it, all men and women, even the most unlikely pairings, can and should be neighbors to each other. No matter their race, religion, nationality, status, you name it. No one is too high or too low to avoid this designation in Jesus eyes and thus in the Kingdom. What does being neighborly involve? Taking care of one another. The Samaritan went to quite a lot of trouble to help this stranger. First he went out of his way – putting aside his own agenda for that day. He bound up the wounds of the man, lifted him onto his beast, took him to a safe place and saw that he would be cared for. Although he then had to leave, he clearly planned to come back to make sure that the innkeeper was fairly compensated for his part in the rescue. By this I conclude that a neighbor is compassionate, generous, and responsible - regardless of who is in need - even if that person is a stranger to him, and different from him in every way.