Who is My Neighbor?  Luke 10:25-37

I want to look this morning at a story that Jesus shared in the book of Luke: it is the parable of the Good Samaritan

Many times, when we hear a story on the news where someone went out of their way to help someone who was in trouble, they are often referred to as a “Good Samaritan”

In Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan, I want us to see 4 categories of people…you will identify yourself with one of those 4

The characters of our story this morning are:

• The thieves
• The priest
• The Levite
• The Samaritan

Luke 10:25–29 (ESV)

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?”

Our love for God is displayed by how well we love others

That’s what Jesus taught

But some people have differing ideas about what love is

First I want us to consider:

What love was to the lawyer…

This lawyer is not the same thing as our attorneys today…this lawyer is a religious leader like the Pharisees, an interpreter of the law of Moses

On the surface, it seems this lawyer had a legitimate question…what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

I wished more would realize that they need to ask that same question

But there was another motive behind the lawyer’s asking of this question

The lawyer of Jesus day loved to argue about the finer points of religion and social matters as it pertained to the Law of Moses

Jesus saw through his motive as he sees when our motives are fake

Jesus throws a question at the lawyer that puts him on the spot…well what does the Law say? 

What do you think it takes for one to have eternal life?

The lawyer gave Jesus the right answer: “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”

Jesus said, “You have answered correctly, do this and you shall live”

We know that doing things does not get you saved or keep you saved…but these things are characteristic of one who is saved

A person who is saved loves God and loves people

But Jesus is asking this question to the lawyer for him to understand that his idea of love is flawed

So now the lawyer avoids talking about love and asks Jesus to define what a neighbor is

“And who is my neighbor?”

In his flawed thinking, the lawyer and other Jews would say that their neighbor is not the person next door

His neighbor is someone just like himself: another Jew

One who looks like him, talks like him, goes to the same places he does…someone just like himself

That is the same flawed thinking that many Christians have today and is a reason why churches are not reaching people for Jesus

In a previous church that I pastored, someone said, “Pastor, we have reached all the people that we can reach in our town”

When this person really meant was, we have reached all the people that are just like us

But our neighbor according to Jesus is not people that are just like us

Jesus explained to the lawyer very well, that loving people who are just like you is not what he is talking about

Loving people is showing mercy to anyone who has a need…that is the kind of love that Jesus is talking about: The God kind of love

Have you shown God love this week?  Loving your neighbor with the love of God

Your neighbor is any person you meet, whether or not they are just like you

The lawyer had a flawed idea about who his neighbor was and a flawed idea of what love is

 

So, we continue to look at the characters in this passage:

What was love to the thieves?

Love to the thieves was taking advantage of someone

Luke 10:30 (ESV)

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.

The story is about a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and was attacked by thieves

The man was not a neighbor to the thief, the thief only cared about the man’s possessions and could care less about the man

The thief was looking for someone he could take advantage of

So, the thieves took his clothing and possessions, then beat him and left him for dead on the side of the road

Don’t think that’s anyone’s idea of what love is

The thieves showed no love at all…no mercy…they just took advantage of a poor soul as he was walking down the road

 

Then there was a priest:

To the priest, love was a situation to avoid

Luke 10:31 (ESV)

31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.

The priest was the first person to come along and see the man stripped and lying beaten on the side of the road

But instead of stopping to help the man and show God’s love, the priest walked on the other side of the road and pretended not to see the man

Well, the priest was busy and probably on his way to do his service in the temple

It would have been an inconvenience for him to stop

He might miss the opening to Sunday School or something

And then there was the possibility that the man was dead and according to the Law the priest would have been unclean for coming in contact with a dead body

He would have had to wait 7 days to be able to serve

He wasn’t willing to take that chance, so he chose temple service above the life of a suffering human being

 

Then along came a Levite:

To the Levite, love was someone to look at

Luke 10:32 (ESV)

32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

This wounded beaten man was just someone that sparked the curiosity of the Levite

Sort of like when we come up on an accident and want to see how bad it is, but not stop to help

The Levite was another minister in the temple: he had gained enough knowledge to know that it was his duty to love his neighbor

But he chose not to

The priest and the Levite both demonstrate that religious work does not make one religious and it surely does not make one right with God

They were both on their way to serve God in the temple but blew it by not serving their fellow man

But there was a fourth character to this story that demonstrated love

What was love to the Samaritan?

Luke 10:33–35 (ESV)

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 and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’

What was love to the Samaritan?

The Samaritan probably was the least one you would expect to stop and help

Here was a man lying beaten on the side of the road; most likely a Jewish man

And the Jews hated the Samaritans!

The Samaritans were half-breeds to the Jew.  They were aliens with strange religions who had intermarried with Jews

They were outcasts to the Jew

So, this Samaritan walking up, sees this Jew beaten and lying half dead on the side of the road and there is no good reason to help this man who was part of a group who hated Samaritans

 But instead of walking by, the Samaritan chose to help

He stopped, bound up the man’s wounds, carried him to an inn where he could recuperate, and make provision for the man’s expenses out of his own pocket

The Samaritan demonstrated the love of God more than the priest, more than the Levite and certainly more than the thieves

All the others were more concerned about their own well-being than the man who was hurting

Luke 10:36–37 (ESV)

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.”

 

Who is your neighbor?

If a Samaritan could prove himself a true neighbor to a Jew by showing mercy to him, then all men are neighbors

My neighbor and your neighbor are people who need Jesus

They may not look like us

They may not go to the same places we go to

They may not like the things we like

They may not have the same color skin as you and I do

But they are our neighbors and they have a soul

They need Jesus

Would you today reconsider who your neighbor really is?

And let’s reach folks for Jesus