Who Is My Neighbor?

Okay, so here's another "Gospel" question: "Who is my neighbor?" That's the right question!

A lawyer in Jesus' day (that is, one who studied Mosaic law) asked Jesus this question in Luke 10:29. The episode begins in verse 25 with the lawyer "putting Jesus to the test."

What Jesus teaches through this familiar parable is all Law. It was told to teach this lawyer, who Luke says "was seeking to justify himself." It is told to show the man his need for a Savior from sin. No one loves God with all her heart; no one loves his neighbor as himself. We are all in need of a Savior.

Jesus does a neat job, though of showing that "neighbor" is a two-way word. The man who fell among robbers needed a neighbor ("one who shows mercy" according to the biblical lawyer). The Samaritan we call good was a neighbor ("one who shows mercy") to the man. But that Samaritan also needed a neighbor, as did the Samaritans who rejected Jesus' ministry in Luke 9:51-56. They needed the "One who shows mercy."

To one who is seeking to justify himself or herself, the parable of the Good Samaritan reads as pure Law; he or she will be condemned. But to the one who, by God's grace, is looking for neighbor, who knows the impossibility of keeping the Law, and who asks "Who is my neighbor? Who will show mercy to me?" God sends His Son.

God bless you as you teach God's children His Word of mercy and grace!