N is for Neighborliness

N is for Neighborliness
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10: 37

Mercy and Neighborliness go hand in hand. Both examples come from the same parable, the parable of the Good Samaritan. That parable started with a question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” and Jesus answered with a question “What is written in the Law?”

Love God with everything you’ve got and love your neighbor as yourself. It really is that simple.
“Do this and you will live,” Jesus said.

But the expert in the law wanted to justify himself, so he asked another question, “And who is my neighbor?”

It was this question that led to the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The expert had the answer to eternal life – what more did he need to know? He wanted to qualify or limit the number of people he had to love.

But Jesus is global. We are all neighbors. Next door neighbors. Next country neighbors. Neighbors separated by oceans, and mountains and borders. Neighbors.

Look at the people in the parable:

The man was anonymous. Jesus did not identify the man who was robbed. He was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. He may have been a Jew or a Samaritan or Roman, he may have been a merchant or a king. Once stripped by the robbers there was no telling who he was.

The Priest – a religious leader, a man supposedly well versed in the law much like the expert who was questioning Jesus.

The Levite – a lay leader, the Levites were the priestly tribe, charged with carrying the temple in the wilderness, and maintaining the temple and religious customs.

The Samaritan – a hated foreigner. Samaritan’s were Jews but they had intermarried with non-Jews and were considered half-breeds by the Jews of Jerusalem. There was open hostility between the Samaria and Jerusalem.

After the parable Jesus once again answered the question with a question.

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

And again the expert knew the answer. “The one who had mercy on him.”

The expert in the law should not have had to ask either question. Both had been answered in the law he knew so well. He immediately knew the answer to the questions Jesus asked.

This passage gives me the impression that the answers left a bitter taste in the expert’s mouth. He knew the law; he just didn’t like it very much. He didn’t mind loving his fellow experts, probably, it was his enemies that he wanted to exclude. But by choosing a known enemy, the Samaritan, Jesus squashed any notion of limiting the grace of God.

The Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied “How do you read it?”

He answered: “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, Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

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. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 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. 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.’

Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Note to self: “Go and do likewise” is a command – ment.

Simple – Ain’t – Easy
By the same token
Hard and complicated Ain’t the same thing
Wendy