Love Your Neighbor

He [Jesus] answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all our mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” -Luke 10:27

That was the answer Jesus gave to the lawyer (an expert in Jewish Mosaic and rabbinical law) who asked how he could inherit eternal life.

Then, the lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor?” and understandably so.

Jesus then tells the story of The Good Samaritan. You may have heard it many times.

A man was on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, which was known at that time for crime and robbery. Not a smart choice to make to travel this road alone. Jesus’s listeners of that time may have been thinking the man had already made a critical mistake in traveling such a dangerous and crime infested road. And of course, he gets robbed and beaten and left for dead.

Two “clergymen” pass by and do not help him. It’s noteworthy to mention these men both needed to stay ceremonially clean to perform their duties—they were not allowed to touch dead bodies or be in contact with bodily fluids. However, one can say they were placing “rules” above loving others and the needs of others. In essence placing their outward appearance above the condition of their hearts. Remember how Jesus criticized the Pharisees for only cleaning the outside of their cups while they neglected the inside? (See Matthew 23:25 & Luke 11:29)

And then comes along a Samaritan man. Another note: Jews considered Samaritans enemies and didn’t allow them in the Jewish temple. Jesus picking a Samaritan man to be the hero of the story may have caused a gasp in the Jewish listeners. “A Samaritan? No way!” “Nothing good comes out of Samaria.” And yet, it’s the Samaritan who shows compassion and stops and cares for the wounded man. He placed the man on his own donkey while he most likely walked, and then once they got to an inn, he took care of him, and paid for him to stay there. When the Samaritan man left he instructed the innkeeper to take care of him and put any other expenses on his account.

This Samaritan man definitely went the extra mile while the priest and Levite men had passed on by. At the end of the story Jesus says, “Go and do the same” (Luke 10:37).

This week my son-in-law, Kyle did something which caused me to think of this Good Samaritan story…

Early one morning Kyle looked outside and saw a package had been delivered. As he went outside to retrieve it he noticed that his neighbor had fallen. He quickly ran over to her—we’ll call this older lady, Clara—and helped her up. It soon became clear she needed more than help up and Kyle placed her in his car. He ran in and told Monica he was heading to get her help.

Clara asked Kyle to take her to an Urgent Care. Kyle drove to one but knowing that it probably wasn’t going to get Clara the help she needed he ran in quickly and asked if they had an X-ray machine while Clara waited in the car. Since they didn’t Kyle drove her to the nearest emergency room.

Once there Kyle ran in and got a nurse. Clara screamed in pain as the nurse tried to get her out of the car so Kyle picked her up and put her in the wheelchair. As it turned out Clara had a fractured hip and would need hip replacement surgery. Kyle stayed until he could get in touch with Clara’s family. Kyle called her son numerous times but couldn’t get through to him. He then obtained Clara’s daughter-in-law’s number. Finally, Kyle got through and they came to the hospital. Both Clara’s son and daughter-in-law were sincerely grateful for Kyle’s care and attention for Clara.

Many hours later, Kyle returned home.

When my daughter, Monica, told me this story she added at the end, “Mom, Kyle’s a hero.” And I adamantly agreed.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that my son-in-law is a pastor? Well, yes he is. He’s the “priest” that “did” stop.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”

– 1 John 4:7

Thanks for visiting LuSays. Want to win in your relationships? Check out books by Lucille Williams: On marriage, From Me to We, and The Intimacy You Crave. Have kids? Order a copy of The Impossible Kid: Parenting a Strong-Willed Child with Love and Grace or Turtle Finds His Talent for ages 2-6. Subscribe to LuSays today for weekly encouragement.