THE BAD SAMARITAN

source

Luke 10:27-37
[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?

A familiar story Jesus gave in response to a question asked about who a neighbor is. Likewise we ourselves ask this question too, and we only ask to shy away from our responsibility of being a good neighbor. We think when we are ignorant of who our neighbor is, we would be void of responsibility, and hence, we won’t be blamed for our neglect.

So, who is our neighbor? Is it the person living next door, or our work buddies, or our countrymen? All these questions are irrelevant as we consider the response of Jesus.

[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.

The young man from this passage wanted to avoid the fact of who was his neighbor; he wanted to know whom to love, and whom not to love. But the truth is that, it doesn’t really matter who our neighbor is, we just have to love them all. Jesus shows the young man through this parable that you cannot limit your neighbor to the person living next door or around your vicinity or on the basis of ethnicity but as many as are in need, you lend an hospitable hand of help. We make the world a better place by this singular act of lending a charitable hand.

Once we become selective with whom we love, it become partial and bias. It doesn’t reflect the love of God. Therefore, as believers in Christ we are to be examples in showing love to those we come in contact with. We should take the first step by laying a good example. Note what Jesus tells the young man, he says go and do likewise. This is a charge to us too, we are expected to go and do likewise.

We are not to be selective about who we love, we shouldn’t be selective about who we care for but rather we should be deliberate and not partial about whom we love. We love everyone especially those of the household of faith. Do not be a bad neighbor but a dependable and trustworthy neighbor.