Who Is My Neighbour?
Today’s Passage – Luke 10 – 11 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Psalms 141 – 145; Proverbs 30)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 18:3 & 46
Read the “1030 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29)
In our reading passage today there are so many wonderful truths that we could meditate on, but I have decided to consider the “Good Samaritan” passage found in Luke 10:25 – 37. The actual story of the good Samaritan was actually an illustration used by the Lord Jesus in His discussion with a lawyer who had tempted Him with the question, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” As Jesus often did, He replied with a question of His own: He asks the man what His understanding of the Law taught regarding the subject. Now remember, this guy was “tempting” Jesus, he was not sincerely inquiring about going to Heaven, and he was also a lawyer, an expert in the Law. Notice the man’s reply, which was pulled from two Old Testament passages (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18):
“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.” (Luke 10:27)
I guess this lawyer thought that he was impressing Jesus with his knowledge of the Law. Jesus replied that the man had answered well. He told the man that if He could perfectly love God and perfectly love his neighbor, both of which are impossible, then He could go to Heaven. The men then asks a question to clarify the definition of a neighbor. “Who is my neighbor?” That’s a good question. No doubt the lawyer would consider his neighbors to be only those from within the nation of Israel.
Jesus then tells the story about the good Samaritan who comes across a man from Israel who had been beaten and robbed; and then passed by by two upstanding, “Law” abiding citizens (neighbors), who could have and should have helped him, but didn’t. I guess they weren’t feeling neighborly that day. But along comes the Samaritan who although he was not an upstanding member of the Jewish community acted like a neighbor should by helping the man. By the way, this good Samaritan is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ who was willing to help some undesirable people like us.
Jesus’ story of the Samaritan explained to this lawyer that the word “neighbor” means everybody, not just the people you like. Remember what He said in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?” (Matthew 5:43-47)
By the way, Jesus was not teaching this man that if he would do these things that he would be saved, but rather he was proving to the man that he had already missed the mark, and that he was a long way away from being able to “justify himself” as he tried to do in Luke 10:29. But Jesus also let us know from this passage that our field of ministry includes all people, everywhere; not just a select few.
Have you loved a neighbor today? Think about some tangible way that you can demonstrate the love of Christ to someone today. You may just get the opportunity to share the gospel with them as well.
Posted in Thoughts from Luke by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Amen Pastor. What would have happened if the good Samaritan said to the man that was robbed and beaten and left for dead ,I’ll pray for you and walked away,.We have to be very careful as Christians that we may say to someone that is going through a difficult time, I’ll pray for you then walk away,Don’t get me wrong we should pray for those that are hurting and going through a tough time, what I’m trying to say is if there is a way that we can take it a step further and help them out in a financial way or supportive way by calling them up and showing them that you care if they are saved or not. To give a illustration I had a Aunt who was very rough around the edges she lived in Rochester New York she was a Catholic she went through a tough period she told me ,she was very sick nobody came to see how she was doing or called her from her church, but the lady next-door was a Baptist and the people in her church would come over and bring her homemade soup and food, she said I will never forget them. So tell me who was the good Samaritan that made a difference in unsaved persons life.There is so much that we can learn from the good Samaritan even myself and apply it to our lives as individuals and as a church as a whole.like the post .