Matthew, Mark, and Luke all report some version of this morning’s Gospel.
In Matthew, it is Jesus who explains to the young man that the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor, and then to illustrate this Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Mark leaves out the parable, but has Jesus quoting directly from the Book of Deuteronomy, “Shema, Israel, Adonai Eluhenu…Hear O, Israel the Lord is God, the Lord alone, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength… You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
Luke’s Gospel has the young man reciting the greatest commandment, and then to just to be sure he asks, “well, who is my neighbor?” And Jesus offers the parable of the Good Samaritan to explain that the man in need on the side of the street is your neighbor, the one who has fallen victim to unfortunate circumstances, the one who has fallen victim to the crimes of others.
So loving our neighbor means taking responsibility for others, even strangers—not being apathetic, but being quick to respond to their needs.
Notice, how different the action of the Samaritan was from the Priest and the Levite. He was counter-cultural! The Samaritan could have mimicked the apathy of the priest and the Levite and just walked by. He could have blended in to the apathetic crowd. But the Samaritan—and therefore, the Christian, are to be counter-cultural in our love for our neighbor. We aren’t to treat others as the rest of the world treats them, we are to treat others as Christ would treat them.
Yes, the Samaritan had plenty of excuses not to help: he didn’t know the other guy, he was busy, he had places to go, people to see, he had his “personal responsibilities”, he didn’t know how this fallen victim would react, he had his personal finances to worry about. There is always a reason not to help someone. We must resist the tendency to develop the tunnel-vision of the priest and Levite in the story—the tendency to look past the needs of others.
The Samaritan reaches-out quickly, he doesn’t hesitate to offer assistance. Spending our own time, our own effort, our own resources is not easy. But it’s the way of Christ—who spent himself, who poured out himself, that we might have life, when we became estranged from God through sin.
Do this and you will live, Jesus Christ teaches us. May we put our time, talent, and treasure always at the service of God and neighbor for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
In Matthew, it is Jesus who explains to the young man that the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor, and then to illustrate this Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Mark leaves out the parable, but has Jesus quoting directly from the Book of Deuteronomy, “Shema, Israel, Adonai Eluhenu…Hear O, Israel the Lord is God, the Lord alone, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength… You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
Luke’s Gospel has the young man reciting the greatest commandment, and then to just to be sure he asks, “well, who is my neighbor?” And Jesus offers the parable of the Good Samaritan to explain that the man in need on the side of the street is your neighbor, the one who has fallen victim to unfortunate circumstances, the one who has fallen victim to the crimes of others.
So loving our neighbor means taking responsibility for others, even strangers—not being apathetic, but being quick to respond to their needs.
Notice, how different the action of the Samaritan was from the Priest and the Levite. He was counter-cultural! The Samaritan could have mimicked the apathy of the priest and the Levite and just walked by. He could have blended in to the apathetic crowd. But the Samaritan—and therefore, the Christian, are to be counter-cultural in our love for our neighbor. We aren’t to treat others as the rest of the world treats them, we are to treat others as Christ would treat them.
Yes, the Samaritan had plenty of excuses not to help: he didn’t know the other guy, he was busy, he had places to go, people to see, he had his “personal responsibilities”, he didn’t know how this fallen victim would react, he had his personal finances to worry about. There is always a reason not to help someone. We must resist the tendency to develop the tunnel-vision of the priest and Levite in the story—the tendency to look past the needs of others.
The Samaritan reaches-out quickly, he doesn’t hesitate to offer assistance. Spending our own time, our own effort, our own resources is not easy. But it’s the way of Christ—who spent himself, who poured out himself, that we might have life, when we became estranged from God through sin.
Do this and you will live, Jesus Christ teaches us. May we put our time, talent, and treasure always at the service of God and neighbor for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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