Love your neighbor as yourself--Jesus explains

Luke 10:30-37 (NIV)

In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." 

In Luke 10:27 Jesus gave the two greatest commandments—to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself.  He then was asked, “who is my neighbor?”  Jesus’ answer was the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Your neighbor is anyone who needs your help.  True love of your neighbor requires sacrifice of yourself.

This story has several characters.  There is the traveling man who was robbed, stripped and beaten nearly to death.  There are the priest and the Levite, both who knew about the laws of God and the need to show compassion, yet neither did anything to help the man, even going out of their way to avoid him.  And there is the Samaritan, considered by the Jews to be in the lowest class of people because they married non-Jews and did not keep the law.  Jews would have nothing to do with Samaritans, yet Jesus says it was a Samaritan who did go out of his way to help the injured man, and who represents the person who showed how to love his neighbor.  You can imagine how insulted Jewish listeners were hearing Jesus basically describing a Samaritan as the hero of the story while their own people were castigated.  Note that Jewish hatred of Samaritans was so great that when Jesus asked which of the three were the good neighbor, the Jewish man who asked the original question about who is my neighbor answered “he who showed mercy (compassion)”, without saying “the Samaritan”.

This story tells you to love others regardless of who they are, what their race or religion is, what their social status is, or anything else.  Anyone in trouble or having any need is your neighbor.  And notice that the Samaritan in the story did not expect anything in return for all he did for the injured man.  His compassion was pure, without any selfish motive for himself. 

I’ve heard a sermon where the Good Samaritan is Jesus, the injured man represents all sinful people, the robbers are Satan’s attacks on men, the priest represents apostasy and the Levite represents legalism with both showing prejudice.  However, I personally don’t like this interpretation; I prefer to believe that this story simply describes what compassion means, what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.  I also like the thought--and need to follow the thought with action-- that compassion for others starts with a need that inspires you to do something, you see the need that often interrupts what you might be doing otherwise, and you act on the need that often is an inconvenience to you.

Martin Luther King, Jr is quoted as saying---“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’”  Which would be your position?  Aim to ask the question of the Samaritan.  Who is your neighbor right now?