But a Samaritan came near him, and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. — Luke 10:33
The story of The Good Samaritan is one of the most famous stories in the Gospel.
“Who is my neighbor” is one of the most often asked questions in every age, and although we know the benefactor was a Samaritan, we know nothing of the man who who was robbed, stripped, and left half-dead. We know nothing of his race, color, religion, or background.
I suspect that was a conscious choice by Jesus. All we know is that the man was in need of help, yet people passed him by.
Often our neighbor’s needs are not so obvious, and often it is hard to know what “love they neighbor” requires.
Add to that the fact that our diverse back grounds and inherited prejudices warp our judgment and are a powerful deterrents to action. A surface reading of this passage could lead us to think that it is those inherited prejudices, traditions, and customs that Jesus is talking about.
I think he is going much deeper than that. Consider the possibility that human need not self interest be the only criteria for action.
Consider a world where our elected leaders put human need at the top of the list in politics, social welfare, and international relations as opposed to self-interest. Perhaps that is where Christ is going with the answer to the lawyer’s question, “Who is my neighbor?”
Do we wait on such a world to come? Or is it better to ask what are we waiting for?
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