“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan in answer to a lawyer who was trying to establish who he had to love to fulfill the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus doesn’t tell him how to identify a neighbor - but instead how to be a neighbor.
The subtle message in that answer is one we need to hear today.
By worldly definition, the victim in the story was not a “neighbor” of the Samaritan. Their culture would have made them enemies…. different tribe and ethnicity. In fact, making the Samaritan the hero of the story probably offended the Jews.
But Jesus is teaching a lesson. He is showing that skin color, ethnic origin, nationality…none of these matter in the Kingdom of God.
He is telling us not to worry about who the person in need is…worry about who we are.
In the parable the Priest and the Levite who passed by the injured man were just too busy. The things on their “to-do list” precluded them from being a neighbor that day and If we are not careful our calendar can do the same thing to us.
Some days it seems there isn’t time to fit being a Christian into our busy schedule. But Jesus says go and act like the guy whose schedule took a backseat to his Christianity.
There are people near you who need to feel loved…Will you make time?…Is that a priority to you?
Will you call the senior citizen who has been trapped in their room for months and talk to them for a while?
Will you mow the yard of the person down the street who is struggling?
Will you call the friend who lost their job and offer a helping hand?
Jesus said – “go and do the same”.…He is telling you to mimic someone who allowed another person’s problem to interrupt their schedule.
Love is seldom convenient - so act when the opportunity presents itself - don’t just agree with the concept…make a plan and do it today
“You do not write your life with words. . . You write it with actions.“ - Patrick Ness
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