Who is my Neighbor?

 Luke 10:25-37, Psalms 82

 When Jesus is questioned in our passage by a lawyer about what to do to inherit eternal life, he throws it back to the lawyer by asking him what the law says. The lawyer responds with the right answer to “love the Lord with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus says to him, “Do this and you will live.” But the man has one more question, “Who is my neighbor?”

Jesus doesn’t give him a dictionary definition, but he tells the true meaning of neighbor in a story. We have the story of the Good Samaritan. A man is beat up and left for dead. A priest walks by and ignores him and then a Levite. Now these are men who know and have studied the law but obviously don’t consider this poor man a neighbor of theirs. Who comes to the rescue to this stranger in need? - not the “religious” men but a Samaritan – a tribe not respected by the Jews since they are considered half-breeds. Yet it is this lowly stranger who takes care of the man.

Jesus asks the lawyer then, “Which of these men was a neighbor?” He answers correctly again, “the one who showed him mercy.” Jesus agrees with him and tells him to go and do likewise.

Who is this neighbor we are to show mercy to? It is not just the people who live close by. Throughout the Old Testament and in Psalm 82 we are told to give justice to the weak and orphan and to maintain the rights of the lowly and destitute. The Psalm says to rescue the weak and needy, delivering them from the hands of the wicked.

In this story Jesus taught, we have the lowly, a second-class Samaritan taking care of the needy. The Good Samaritan went to a stranger in need, considered him his neighbor, and took care of him.

May we show mercy to the strangers we encounter – to those who are in need knowing that they too are God’s beloved children, even if they don’t live in our neighborhood.

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