Who is my neighbour?

WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?

Lk. 10:27-37

The heart of the parable of the Good Samaritan is that all people are important, no matter to what race, class or religion they may belong.  The lawyer in today’s Gospel who asked the question, “Who is my neighbour,” wanted to justify his way of thinking.  He, along with many of his fellow Jews, regarded themselves as a cut above other people and had a very warped idea of the word ‘neighbour’.  The Jews did not consider gentiles as neighbours.  How could they be neighbours when they did not belong to the covenant people of Israel?  Greeks were regarded as barbarians and treated with similar contempt.  The Romans who ruled them were certainly not their neighbours.  They had one set of laws for those who were not their own citizens and another for their own people.  How false was their way of thinking to Jesus.  We have to thank the lawyer for putting this question, ‘Who is my neighbour’ to Jesus because it drew from His lips the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’.  Here Jesus teaches us how we are to treat all people, especially those in dire need.

The parable of the Good Samaritan began with a mugging, a violent crime.  A man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho was beaten, robbed and left half dead by the roadside.  It is a story about people’s reluctance to get involved.  Two men came by, saw the victim lying there, but made no effort to help him.  It is also the story about that rare and wonderful individual who saw a need and did whatever was necessary to meet it.  A Samaritan came upon the wounded man and ‘was moved with compassion’. His sympathy was immediately translated into practical service.  He administered first aid.  He carried the man on his donkey to the inn and looked after him all night.  Before continuing on his journey, he made the necessary arrangements for his continued care until he was well again.  He promised that should he have to pay more, on his return journey, he would settle the bill.  What a thoughtful, lovely man that Samaritan was!

In telling this story all Our Lord was doing was demonstrating what was written in the book of Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

What we must note in this parable is that Jesus did not identify the man who was mugged except by gender.  He was a man.  No woman would have travelled that dangerous road alone.  As to race, he could have been a Jew or Gentile.  As to religion, he could have been a Jew, an idolater, or an atheist.  As to character, he could have been good or evil.  Jesus left all such questions unanswered, because in His mind, none of them was a factor.  The only thing that mattered to Him was the fact that a human being lay half dead by the road and needed immediate help.  Two religious men, a priest and Levite, came and passed by.  You could ask how they could be so cold and inhumane?  Surely, they were not wicked men, completely devoid of compassion.  Perhaps they were busy and had an engagement they had to attend.  Perhaps they feared for their safety.  Those same robbers could be lurking nearby waiting for their next victim.  Perhaps the victim was faking his accident and was ready to pounce on whoever came near.  Was he being used as a decoy?  There were a dozen good reasons not to get involved. There always has been and always will be.  It is a very risky business to get involved in human needs.  You could be deceived or made to look a fool.  You could end up wasting your time and effort.  You could even get hurt.

The Samaritan may have recognised all these possibilities.  Still he took the risk of becoming personally involved.  He did for that man what he would have liked another to do to him if he had been mugged and robbed.  He knew the meaning of love.  It meant taking risks, giving time, spending money and rendering service.  He may have sat on committees that gave to charity.  He may have even given personally to charity.  Both of these would have been admirable, but he would not be remembered as “The Good Samaritan”.  We call him that because he knew how to love in a practical and personal way.

Most of us may never see a man mugged and robbed and lying by the roadside half dead.  If we wait for that to happen, the chances are that we will never discover the real meaning of love.  What the Lord expects of us is that we have an observant eye for those people whose wounds are less dramatic, but no less real, and to do what we can for them.  We walk right past them almost every day.  Some are wounded by loneliness, depression, fear or guilt. Some have been robbed by economic circumstances beyond their control.  They may live next door, or across the town, or even under our own roof.  Wherever they live, whoever they are and whatever their need, Jesus described them as neighbours.  He has placed upon every one of us the responsibility to love each one of them, as we love ourselves.

Lord Jesus, You were the Good Samaritan to us for when we were in dire straits You came to our aid.  You saved us by dying on a cross from the clutches of Satan and set our feet firmly on the road to Heaven.  Help us to follow Your example and help any helpless person we see who needs our help.

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