Luke 10:25-37 [show]Luke 10:25-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan [25]And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" [26]He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" [27]And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." [28]And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." [29]But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" [30]Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. [31]Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. [32]So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. [33]But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. [34]He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. [35]And the next day he took out two denarii(1) and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' [36]Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" [37]He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise." (ESV) Footnotes 1. [10:35] A 'denarius' was a day's wage for a laborer

Let’s talk about your neighbors. You know, the way you do at home! There are all kinds of neighbors, who generate all kinds of feelings in us. Chesterton said, “We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next-door neighbors.” How might your life be different if you could choose your neighbors?

A lawyer once asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life. He was actually a scribe, a religious expert in the Mosaic Law. Jesus told him what he already knew, that the key to eternal life is in the ancient commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God” with your whole being, “and your neighbor as yourself.” The scribe asked, “And who is my neighbor?” A favorite exercise of the rabbis was trying to determine the correct legal answer to this question. Who is my neighbor?

The scribes and Pharisees gave the question a very narrow answer. They knew their neighbor was not the Gentile, the non-Jew. They knew their neighbor was not the Samaritan, the corrupted Jew.

It is obvious they were trying to locate the limits of their obligation. “What is the least I can do to fulfill my duty?” Have you ever had such thoughts? Have you ever wondered, “How much fun can I have and still go to heaven?”

The scribe’s question led to the one parable of Jesus that everybody knows, the Good Samaritan. Adults have tended to leave it to the children. It is G-rated, an example of the Golden Rule, a little morality play about being kind. Come on, do you seriously think that’s all this parable was to Jesus?

If we are going to hear this parable as it was first heard, we need to do a little preparation. First, some background is necessary. Second, to personalize it, each of us needs to focus on the most despicable group of people we can think of – - – in-laws, IRS agents, umpires, religious fundamentalists, professional wrestlers, etc. It needs to be a group or class or type with whom you really have trouble.

Now, some background. Jesus, of course, was a Jew. Anyone who was not a Jew was a Gentile. The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ time taught the people that all Gentiles were unclean, profane and godless. At times, the extent of this discrimination was beyond belief. If there was a group more despised than Gentiles, it was the Samaritans. They lived in Samaria, which was between Judea in the south and Galilee in the north. They were Jews who had defiled their pure Jewish blood by intermarrying with foreigners who were moved into Palestine when most of the Jews were carried into captivity.

Strict Jews, when going from Galilee to Judea, or Judea to Galilee, would not even set foot on Samaritan soil. They would cross the Jordan River into present-day Jordan, going many miles out of the way, to avoid passing through Samaria. Jesus, however, went through Samaria.

If you were telling a story, you would probably make the hero someone with whom your audience would make a positive identification. You wouldn’t choose Donald Trump to play Gandhi. But consider what Jesus did. He drew the hero of his story from the most despised group in Palestine. The good Samaritan? It would not compute.

The road where the robbery took place was between Jerusalem and Jericho. It was a rough and rocky mountain road. Jerusalem is in the Judean highlands, which is why they are always going “up” to Jerusalem. It is twenty miles down to Jericho, but the descent is 3,600 ft.! There

were many hiding places for robbers. The victim was attacked, robbed and left for dead. Two Jewish religious leaders passed by, saw the victim, but did not stop. In truth, stopping was not advisable. The apparent “victim” might be a decoy, with other robbers lying in wait. Another possibility was that the victim was dead, and touching a dead body would render the religious leaders unclean, thus unable to perform their temple duties. Then a Samaritan came by. He took pity on the man and took the risk. You know the rest of the story.

Jesus’ parable suggests that we do choose our neighbors. Physical proximity means little today. In high-rise condominiums and apartment buildings, people who live literally inches apart may not know each other’s name. In any large city you may see hundreds of faces a day, and be within speaking distance of hundreds more, and remain utterly anonymous. If “neighbor” means someone for whom you accept some responsibility, then we do indeed choose. But on what basis?

Fred Rogers’ television program, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, is a wonderful example of what can happen to the concept of “neighborhood.” This gentle man, across the years, invited millions of individual children to be his neighbor. Probably none of them lived next door, literally.

Yet, most of them accepted his invitation and became, to a degree not to be minimized, his neighbor.

On what basis do we decide who will be our neighbors?         Of course, Jesus might suggest we choose someone in need. He might also remind us that everyone has some kind of need, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. The question the rabbis debated is still partially unanswered.

Let me put a wrinkle in the parable for you, as someone once did for me. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We have heard it as a commandment. But it is also a statement of fact. We will love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We do love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We cannot give to another what we have not received. If we have received the gospel, we have accepted the good news that God loves us as we are, that we are good creations of God, that we have value and worth, that even our sinfulness does not dilute God’s compassionate grace.

Accepting God’s love makes it possible to love ourselves. This is not self-centeredness. Ego-centricity is godless. Rather, being God-centered allows us to see ourselves as a good gift of God, which is a source of great joy. Self-despising is a sin, despising what God has called good.

Self-despising cannot be the basis for loving other people. Loving the neighbor means giving myself to the neighbor, and I cannot give what I despise. Our attitudes toward others tell us significant things about ourselves, if we will listen.

Have you pictured the kind of people you do not like? This popular parable invites me to consider that God may be doing more of what really matters with one of them than with me.

Prayer:  O God, we cannot truly love our neighbors until, accepting your love for us, we love ourselves. Open our hearts to you. Amen.

C. David Matthews  /  Royal Lane Baptist Church  /  Dallas, Texas 75230