Saturday's Devotion: Who Is My Neighbor? (March 7, 2015)

Who Is My Neighbor?

Luke 10:25-37
March 7, 2015

Yesterday, we reflected on the story of the lawyer who tested Jesus with the question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life" (Luke 10:25).  When Jesus tossed the question back in his lap, the lawyer then tried to justify himself with the question, "who is my neighbor?"  (Luke 10:29).  Jesus responds by telling a story--that is the "Story within the Story," and then once again asks the lawyer, "who was the neighbor?"  (Luke 10:36).

The lawyer answers, "the one who showed him [the injured man] mercy."  (Luke 10:37).  The lawyer defined "neighbor" not by race, nationality, creed or even who lived next door.  On the one hand, the lawyer may not have been able to bring himself to acknowledge that a Samaritan was more of a "neighbor" than a Priest or a Levite.  I think, though, that the lawyer also was responding to the question that Jesus asked.  To be a "neighbor" was not to be determined on the basis of external characteristics; a "neighbor" is identified as the one who shows mercy.  

I wonder if the lawyer was familiar with other teachings of Jesus.  Had the lawyer heard the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy?"  (Matthew 5:7).  

I wonder if the lawyer was changed by this encounter with Jesus.  Did this conversation open the eyes of the lawyer so that the lawyer was more aware of the needs of people around him, regardless of external circumstances?  Was he able to recognize in the faces of the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the oppressed, the imprisoned, and even in the faces of the Samaritans, was he able to see the face of God?  (See Matthew 25:31-46).  Was he able to see himself in the face of the injured man, recognizing that he, too, desperately need God's mercy?

Jesus closes this Story within the Story by telling the lawyer to "Go and do likewise."  (Luke 10:37). This message is for us today, as well.  We are reminded that the key to eternal life is to love God and love our neighbor, by extending God's mercy to everyone around us.  No exceptions; no excuses.  Just mercy!  Go and do likewise!

Pray:  Lord, be merciful to me a sinner!