My Neighbor

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

MY NEIGHBOR

Luke 10:29-37

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." 

NIV

Now that we have seen the point about trying to justify ourselves we should take a look at the question Jesus asks this man about so he can decide who his neighbor is. Of course Jesus had to use a Samaritan in the illustration as this man, being a Jew, would have nothing to do with a Samaritan, a half breed. There are several points or truths that we could use here for a life lesson. The idea of the first two people who were supposed to be men with religious training, background, and practice. The priest of all the people who should have helped did not, nor did the Levite a man from the tribe of Levi who all took their turns serving in the temple, such as we have seen with Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist. Both these men professed their belief in God and devotion to the Law of Moses as established by God. But they had no mercy, worse yet, they not only did not show concern, but actually went out of their way to avoid any contact at all with this injured man. We might suspect the reason they crossed the road was so if ever asked about this man, they could say, “What man, I never saw any injured man, surely if I had, I would have helped him”. This is our lesson here. We cannot avoid seeing someone in need just so our daily routine is not disturbed. Do we pass by a stranger in need because we don’t want to be bothered, or it might cost us either some time and maybe even money? Maybe in today’s world we might think it is too dangerous to stop and help, it might be a trap. Whatever the reason, are we like that priest or Levite? The Samaritan, even though with all the hatred toward them by the Jews, not only stopped but took the man with him and cared for him. He did not just stop and ask if he was alright, he got involved with this man’s life. Sometimes we might tell someone in need we will pray for them, that is our commitment in helping them, after all God can do so much more for them then we could. But that is not the truth we are being shown here. If we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and our neighbor as ourselves and if our neighbor, like this illustration, can be a total stranger, then showing the mercy is up to us, even if it cost us, time and money. Sometimes we can become so focused on our own lives, we do not even see the needs of others, or we cross the road so we would have to see the need. This is not an easy lesson, but nevertheless it is one we need to ponder on, and make sure we are not missing the opportunity to show mercy to our neighbor.