Loving Our Neighbor

Luke 10:25-37 – Over the last weeks in our Bible Study, we looked at the Parable of the Prodigal Son (and “Other” Son in Luke 11:24-32. Now let’s look Jesus’ teaching in often called the “Parable of the Good Samaritan,” in which our Lord describes love in one of the most powerful accounts ever told.

Martin Luther once said “A Christian is someone who lives outside himself. He lives in Christ by faith and in his neighbor by love.”

Christ’s interrogator is leaning on an authority that is not his. He’s an expert in Jewish Law, typically that eternal life is gained by doing a number of meritorious acts…..in other words, salvation comes by human works.

Intriguingly, the Lord does not quibble by pointing out that there’s an inherit contradiction in the man’s question. Inheritance is based on a relationship. You can’t do something to inherit eternal life. The questionnaire becomes the questioned. First he quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. “But he wanted to justify himself.”

Perhaps he thought to himself, “That’s my problem. I can’t love God like that. Whenever try, I fall short.” That kind of self-revelation is just too hard to face, so he assumes a diversionary tactic, and asks “And who is my neighbor?”