25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
Luke 10:25-37
Dear God, “The one who showed him mercy.” I’m going to come back to that, but I think that is the key to this story for me. But I want to start with a couple of quick observations.
First, this “expert in religious law” knew his stuff because he gave Jesus the answer Jesus himself gave as the most important commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). So good for this man for knowing this answer. In fact, in this translation, Jesus replies, “Right!” with an exclamation point, to him.
Second, he “stood up to test Jesus.” I don’t blame him for this either. If I had been there, I would want to have seen Jesus tested. I don’t know that I would have had the courage to do it, but I would have been skeptical about this man being your Messiah. I wish we knew what happened to this man after this encounter. Did Jesus satisfy him and pass his test, or did Jesus simply pass the test, but the man was still skeptical?
But back to the story, I think the whole point of this story is for Jesus to expand everyone’s net to include everyone.
“Who is my neighbor?”
“Everyone is your neighbor.”
I was watching a politician give a speech yesterday. As I write this, the U.S. House of Representatives is locked in an intraparty civil war on the Republican side. There aren’t a whole lot of people from either party showing mercy. In fact, one politician gave a speech yesterday and included what he said was his favorite verse: 2 Timothy 4:7. But it was a complete misquote and misapplication of what Paul was telling Timothy. The politician said, “Paul is the old guy giving advice to the young guy Timothy. And he says, ‘Fight the good fight, finish the course, keep the faith.’ And I tell folks I love that verse because of the action in it. Americans aren’t timid folks. They are people of action. And the words in that verse: fight, finish, keep, I think fit the American spirit.” I can only imagine if Paul had the opportunity to walk in that room and talk to that man after that quote, what he would tell him. I don’t think he would be proud of how Congress is acting right now. I don’t think he would go up to him and say, “Attaboy!”
Why? Because that’s what what Paul said to Timothy. The New Living Translation has the words apply to Paul in the past tense. For context, here are both verses 6 and 7:
6 As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
The verbs Paul used were not “fight, finish, and keep,” but “fought, finished, and remained.” And who he was fighting against was anyone who got in the way of him proclaiming Jesus–mainly the established church of the time. He was fighting for a message of loving you with everything we have and showing mercy to everyone. The misapplication of this passage by the politician actually made me very angry because a lot of people who do not know the Bible will think this is who you are–a power-hungry God who is looking to impose your will on us.
So finally, as I look at who Jesus is telling me you are through this parable, I see a God who has pretty simple expectations on his church. Love everyone. Show mercy to everyone. That’s what you expect of me.
Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, as I move into the rest of this day and prepare to resume my vocation in a couple of days, help me. Help me to love this politician who so badly misquote Paul yesterday and used you as an excuse and authority for his selfish actions. Help me to love everyone I encounter. Help me to love those who have wronged me. Oh, Lord, I want to be just like you, and just like you means being very generous in my love for others. Oh, Lord, I want to love you well. Help me with my un-love.
I pray all of this through the mercy afforded to me through Jesus,
Amen
Emails to God 