Who is My Neighbour?

Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him. "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the law?" Jesus asked him. "How do you read it?"
The man answered: "Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself".
"You have answered correctly", Jesus to.d him. "Do this and you will live."
But wanting to justify himself, the man asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?" Luke 10:25-29

Oh how we love to justify ourselves! Why do we do it? We do it because we place so much treasure in self-effort. We have such a desire to be 'right,' that we step out in the flesh to prove our own 'goodness.' Why? So we don't, really, need to repent and accept the teaching of Jesus, all of it and humble ourselves and obey.

Fortunately for us, and for the man, Jesus goes on to teach the parable about the 'Good Samaratin'. In it we learn that the religious leaders saw the man, another fellow countryman lying in the dirt and avoided him, but the Samaratin picked him up and tended his wounds and took him to an inn and paid for his accomodation. Samaratins were really supposed to be enemies of the Jews but the Samaratin was the kinder of all.

The parable teaches us that everyone is our neighbour, no matter what race or skin colour, we are all neighbours. Therefore we should do good to all men.

Neighbours are not just those we like or get along with either.



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