Who is My Neighbor?
Who is your neighbor? Do you know your neighbor well? What does your neighbor need? How do you love your neighbor well?
Jesus calls his followers to love their neighbor.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus said, “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater...” (Mark 12:31, ESV).
While loving our neighbor is one of the greatest commandments, we cannot love our neighbor if we do not know our neighbor. We also cannot love our neighbor, if we do not believe that they are truly our neighbor.
This truth is at the heart of the parable of The Good Samaritan. When asked by an expert in the law, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked, “What is written in the Law?” Jesus asked, “How do you read it?” The man 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.’” (Luke 10:25-27, ESV).
Doug Greenwold asserts, “This expert in the Law no doubt held the view of his observant Jewish culture that there were a goodly number of people who would never qualify to be ‘my neighbor.’ That view is somewhat understandable since Leviticus seems to suggest that a ‘fellow Israelite’ (19:17) and ‘your people’ (19:18a) are mentioned within the context of ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ (19:18b).” (Greenwold, Doug. That Good Samaritan, p. 22).
In stark contrast, Jesus acknowledged loving God and loving your neighbor as the greatest of all the commandments. Jesus replied, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:28-29, ESV).
Jesus then tells the parable of The Good Samaritan to illustrate that the least likely candidate for the title “neighbor”, is indeed your neighbor.
The Samaritan is your neighbor. The stranger is your neighbor. The foreigner is your neighbor. Your enemy is your neighbor. Your neighbor is your neighbor.
One of the most important questions we can understand and answer is “Who is my neighbor?” When we answer this question correctly, then we can love our neighbor well. We can love our neighbor as ourself.
May we know our neighbor and love our neighbor as ourselves, and in doing so, may we truly live as Jesus calls us to live.
A Prayer in Times of Social Conflict or Unrest: “Increase, O God, the spirit of neighborliness among us, that in peril we may uphold one another, in suffering tend to one another, and in homelessness, loneliness, or exile befriend one another. Grant us brave and enduring hearts that we may strengthen one another, until the disciplines and testing of these days are ended, and you again give peace in our time; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (#44, Book Of Common Prayer, 2019).
Originally published with Preserving Bible Times: https://preservingbibletimes.org
