Loving Others

Luke 10

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

27He 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'[c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[d]"

28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

30In 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. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He 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. 35The next day he took out two silver coins[e] 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.'

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

37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."



This is a great story by which we can all take example. The key to salvation is belief in Jesus Christ as savior but the highest and greatest commandment comes in verse 27 "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."

After asking about how gain eternal life, the law expert goes on to ask who is my neighbor, and launches Jesus into a parable that has become one of the most famous in the Bible. The story begins with a man from Jerusalem being robbed and beaten, left to die. A priest, Levite and Samaritan pass, but only the Samaritan stops to help. Lets look at each of the characters individually. The priest is the one who may have been my first pick to stop and help out this beaten man simply because of the stigma that goes along with being a priest, but I think Jesus places this as a stab at the pharisees who he later challenges publicly. Then there is the Levite who is commonly a friend to those from Jerusalem at the time, his situation would be like going down the road and seeing your next door neighbor lying there beaten half to death and not helping. Finally the Samaritan passes by and has compassion to not only help him up but bandages his wounds but brings him to the next inn and pays two denarii for his stay, allowing him to have any luxury he wants! Now looking a little closer we find that the Samaritan people are not very liked by Jerusalem, they are basically enemies to each other. I believe Jesus is trying to push on the point that we should not just be helping those we like but our enemies as well.

If you think this situation would never happen, there is a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFRTgoN5o-c&feature=related) online of a man who saved a woman from being mugged but was stabbed in the process. He laid there for a few hours and many people passed by, but sadly no one helped.


Which person are you in the parable? The one who passes by not to become involved or the one who takes compassion on those in need?

Are you willing to give for those you don't particularly like? Do you help those in need when they are in plane view?

Are you loving your neighbor as yourself?

These are questions we should be asking ourselves everyday. I challenge you to do some random act of kindness to anyone today and see what comes out of it. I guarantee it will brighten your at least a little :)

God Bless