Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandments
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Luke 10:25-37
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On 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?”
27 He 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’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii 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?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Jesus says that the two Greatest Commandments are to love God, with all your heart, your soul, your strength, and your mind; and to love your neighbor as yourself...Jesus teaches us that the one who has mercy on his neighbor is a good neighbor and a good Samaritan...The good Samaritan not only helped the man who was attacked by robbers, but did so much more...The good neighbor not only bandaged his wounds, he then poured oil and wine on his injuries, to assist in the cleaning and healing... But the good neighbor did not stop there...He put him on his own donkey, gave him a ride to the inn, and took care of him there...The next day he went back and looked in on him, and gave the innkeeper money for the injured man...He even told the innkeeper that he would pay for any extra stay at the inn, while the injured man was healing and getting better...It is important that we realize that Matthew gives an account of the two Great Commandments and then Luke tells us that Jesus repeats the importance of the Two Great Commandments in the Parable of the Good Samaritan...
The Good Samaritan shows us a loving neighbor...
Walking the Jericho Road is our life...In life, we will all have our Jericho road moments...They may involve us, or maybe our immediate family and friends...I think one of the great summaries and interpretations I have read on Jesus' Parable of the Good Samaritan is by Martin Luther King in his book "A Testament of Hope"...King says "we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act...One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway...True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar...It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."...
Jesus does not want us to help the neighbor in need for one hour, our one week, or one year...He wants humanity to realize the import of having mercy, feeling the pity, having compassion, cleaning the wounds, using our own transportation to assist, paying for and helping those in need till they get on their own feet...And this is only a start...Compassion and being a neighbor as Jesus teaches, is much more than, as Dr. King says, just flipping a coin to an innkeeper...
It is so important to realize that Jews did not think much, of anything towards Samaritans...The Jews were prejudiced against the Samaritan race...The Samaritans were thought of half-breeds, who came and lived in Israel...Yet, in Jesus' Parable it is the Samaritan who is the good neighbor and the one who provides the help...A priest seeing the wounded man, not only passed by, but passed by on the other side...The religious Levite, maybe just an average man, also did not help...Neither of these two men help the injured Samaritan...It is significant for us to realize that the one who helped was a hated Samaritan (by the Jews) in Jesus' story...
Jesus' love has no ethnic boundaries...Jesus' love is not tainted by the color of one's skin or their ethnicity...It starts with someone, and the first act of cleaning the wound, is only the first thing, or as Dr. King says, this is only the initial act...
The London Times many years ago asked several of Britain's prominent intellectuals what the problem was with the world...The Catholic and author G. K. Chesterton sent his answer back on a postcard...His answer was : "I am"...This author cannot personally disagree with Chesterton (or Dr. King)...The problem is me, and the world's problems are my problems...If I keep walking past this wounded man, who will, in fact, will stop (and help him)...If I do not help my neighbor, who will...