Who are Our Neighbors?

When it comes to neighbors, many people have a worldly perspective. Their focus is much too narrow. We typically think of the people across the street, next door, those down the road from us, and people in other provinces or cities. But this belief is severely limited in its scope.

Additionally, most of us have neighbors that we prefer to avoid for one reason or another. Maybe they sing karaoke too loudly at night or perhaps they have dogs or roosters who keep us awake throughout the sleeping hours. It's entirely probable that we all have some neighbors who are suffering to make ends meet during the #pandemic.

A proper perspective

We all come short when considering who our neighbors actually are. We often fail to see the bigger picture. Therefore, it is necessary to correct this faulty perspective and delve deeper into it, that is, if we truly care.

Parables

Jesus frequently spoke in parables. Why, was He attempting to trick people? Not at all! He had a threefold purpose in mind when elating a parable. First, for those who wanted to know what he was speaking about, He told parables to get them to meditate on the meaning and how it applied to them.

Second, He used parables so that those who didn't heed the story and disregarded the teachings would not suffer any more eternal punishment than was necessary.

Third, He told parables to get across one central point. The rest of the story was not fluff, per se, but only when aspects of the parable are connected to the central point are we to uncover the truths.

The Good Samaritan

Even those who do not know the risen Jesus have heard something about the parable of the Good Samaritan. Let's have another look at it, now. Keep in mind that Samaritans were half Jews, and the legalistic Jews had no dealings with them, lest they be found unclean. The irony! The hypocrisy!

"On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25, NIV).

Did you catch that? This was a Pharisee, who wanted to prove Jesus wrong by testing Him. Pharisees are those who wrongly believed (and still do - the legalists), two things: 1. that salvation was for only the Jews; and 2. that their external works could earn salvation. He wanted to know what he could do! Therefore, Jesus taught them all a valuable lesson to the point they wanted to kill Him.

Jesus replied: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" (v. 26, NIV).

The Pharisee correctly quoted Deuteronomy 6:4 and said: “‘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' (v. 27).

Ta-da! He thought he had Jesus in a corner. Do we ever do that? Ahem, yes, unfortunately. When we question the truth of the Bible or when we don't believe it all, or even when we wrongly believe that only certain passages are true. Woe unto us who do these ungodly things.

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live” (v. 28).

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”(v. 29).

This is when Jesus told the parable about the man travelling from Jerusalem down to Jericho (I'll let you read it). It was a very dangerous trip. Not only was it a steep trek downhill, but it was 18 miles (about 30 km) long! Additionally, robbers and thieves prowled the area.

Two men passed by and avoided the Samaritan who had been robbed and beaten. The Jewish priest avoided the naked, half-dead man, and a Levite also passed by without a care. (The Levites were the descendants of Jacob 's son Levi, and they were responsible for keeping the tabernacles and in Jesus's time, the temple clean, stocked, played music, etc.)

In any case, both men left the man for dead. Let's pause right here for a moment and do some self-reflection. Have we ever avoided someone in need? The answer is yes, we have! But let's read on and learn from the Lord Jesus.

"But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 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. 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'" (Luke 10:33-35, NIV).

A denarii was about one day's wages. And now Jesus turned the tables on the lawyer.

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” (v. 36).

Roh, roh, Scooby!

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise” (v. 38).

Pow! Right in the kisser! Jesus with the smackdown!

Details, central point, application

We saw all the details, right? Several people, dangerous travel, robbers, an injured man, an inn and a donkey, etc. But what was the Lord's central point? The main point is that everyone in need is our neighbor.

It doesn't just mean the guy or gal next door, across the street or over in another province or city. Nope! Not at all.

And the application?

Anyone near or far that we are able to reach is our neighbor and we should help them as best we can. Reach is the meaning in Greek. So, prayer, money, aid, whatever we can do as Jesus puts it on our hearts to do, as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the application for us who follow Jesus. May the Holy Spirit bring this to your remembrance going forward.