A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to receive eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?" The man answered, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind'; and 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' " "You are right," Jesus replied; "do this and you will live." But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus answered, "There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead. It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity. He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Take care of him,' he told the innkeeper, 'and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.'" And Jesus concluded, "In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?" The teacher of the Law answered, "The one who was kind to him." Jesus replied, "You go, then, and do the same."
Luke 10:25-37
As we read the very familiar parable of the Good Samaritan, the words of Jesus stop us entirely. His words have the power to transform our thinking, to disarm us and to turn our defenses and justifications completely around in the other direction. Quite simply, the supernatural power of God disarms us. It causes us to cease our own self-protective posture which says, "What about the other person? What about what they did?" and causes us to look at ourselves with new eyes.
Rather than answering the very learned man's question, Jesus quite simply tells him that he is asking the wrong question. The true answer is not to the query, "Who is my neighbor," which may simply provide a justification for not behaving in compassionate ways. Instead, the right question is, "Am I a neighbor to others?"
Let us look for opportunities to exercise loving responsibility towards our fellow human beings. Let us not allow our own comfort level to hinder us from showing compassion and concern. Rather, may we have the courage and the longing to show care to whomever we may find.
The question, therefore, is not "Who is my neighbor?" The question God wants us to ask is, "How can I be a neighbor to my fellow man?"
- 29 MARCH -