I've read the story of the Good Samaritan so many times, and I've heard sermons on it and seen skits about it, but for some reason I've never clued in to one pretty important part of this passage.
Jesus does not answer the man's question. Jesus does not like the man's question. So he changes the question.
The lawyer questioned Jesus, not out of sincerity, but in order to test him. I love how Jesus often answered questions by asking questions. So, He first turned the tables back on the man and asked him what the law said. He answered correctly, that the law demanded total devotion to God and love for one's neighbour. So Jesus was able to prove the man's duplicity - he already knew the answer, so why did he ask the question. So, in order to save face, the man tries again - it's not so simple as that, who is my neighbour? Or rather, who is good enough to be my neighbour?
In his sermon Love Your Unborn Neighbour, John Piper says....
Now how will Jesus answer? He does not like this question. Carving humanity up into groups some of whom are worthy of our love and others are not. Jesus does not answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” He tells a parable that changes the question.....
You see how the focus has shifted. The question about what kind of man is dying is not even in the story any more. The whole focus is now on the kind of people who are walking by. The first two felt no compassion. The Samaritan was a different kind of person. So when you get to the end, what’s the question Jesus asks? Was it, “So was the wounded man a neighbor?” No. That is not the question. Jesus asked the lawyer (v. 36), “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer said in verse 37, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
No answer to his question: Who is my neighbor? Instead: Go become a new kind of person. Go get a compassionate heart. This is exactly what Jesus died for. This is the promise of the new covenant in Ezekiel 36:26, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” And Jesus said at the last supper, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). Those who follow Jesus all the way to the cross will see him there paying for their new heart....
Look at the practical compassion—the concrete, hands-on, get-messy compassion of verses 34-35. This is a huge part of the parable. Jesus belabors this to drive something home about the kind of person who follows him. (emphasis mine)
The people who own and operate and work [at abortion clinics] are real people. Above all, they need Christ. What might God be pleased to do if ... concerned Christians committed ourselves to pray daily that Christ would manifest his saving grace in those places? What divine encounters of compassionate involvement might God create? Let there be no violence from our side. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. If the owners and administrators and employees of these [abortion] clinics met the living Christ and were saved, would abortion be offered in [your city] any longer? There is more that you can do. But this much I ask you to do. Pray regularly that the owners, administrators, and employees of [your local abortion clinics] would be saved. (specific locations removed)
The question is not "Who is my neighbour?"
The question is "What kind of neighbour am I?"
Tomorrow's passage: Luke 11:14-12:34
2 comments:
Great post. The Good Samaritan story reminds me of the movie I watched last night -- "The Blind Side". I don't know what made the woman take notice of this young man who needed help, but there were many others who saw him every day, who knew his circumstances were bad, and did nothing. She didn't know anything about him other than he went to her children's school and was walking in the rain at night with no warm clothes, but she reached out to him, she offered him a place to stay, and it ended up changing not only his life, but hers, her family's, and others as well.
I pray for His eyes to see when and how there is something I can do to help someone in need.
I've always loved how Jesus changed the whole point of that discussion.
Thanks for posting for me, Tammy! If you need or want me to trade a future post on a day when you don't have time or will be away, just let me know!
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