Other side of the road

The parable of the good Samaritan

 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by 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, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii[c] 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.” - Luke 10:25-37

I was at a protest on July 4th listening to one of the speakers and this parable popped into my head and how applicable it is to our days.  The parable is setup because an “expert in the law” asked Jesus how to “inherit eternal life,”  He knows the book answer “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”  He wants to justify himself; the expert of the law is looking to verify who is and who is not his neighbor to determine who he needs to love and who is to be excluded.  He knew the book answer but did not know the heart of God. The question that leads directly the the parable that Jesus tells is “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus' parable is about a man traveling a road and is robbed, stripped naked and left for dead. A priest and a Levite pass by on the other side; they ignore a man in need.  Based on the question asked they did not see the man as a neighbor.  He is clearly someone in need, but they do not see him as someone they needed to help.  They have determined that this person can be ignored.  He was on a dangerous road after all. He might not be one of “us”. He is not their concern.  The next person is a Samaritan; they were hated by the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. A little history, Samaria was the capital of Israel back before Israel went into exile.  Israel is often referred to as Samaria in the Old Testament.  After Israel (Samaria) went into exile by the Assyrians; the land was repopulated by foreigners. Lions attacked Samaria so the Assyrians brought some priests from Israel back.  This led to  - To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. - 2 Kings 17:34. This is the Samaritans, they were illegals. In Ezra and Nehemiah, the Samaritans are excluded because of this. The religious leaders saw them as unworthy; they did not have the right rules and regulations. The true religious leaders were better, the experts in the law, the priests and the Levites. However, it is the Samaritan that shows the man in need; love.

Jesus ends the parable with telling the “expert in the law” to be like the Samaritan because he loved those in need without question. It is not about laws and regulations; it is about loving those in need.  In the parable of the sheep and goats found in Matthew 25, salvation is only about caring about the least of these.  Jesus is making the same point here.  There is someone in need; be a neighbor to them!!  They are your neighbor and if you can help, help.

That leads me back to the protest and how this applies to today.  There are people in need today but most of the church is passing by on the other side of the road.  Oh they are immigrants, oh they are LGBTQ+, or they are welfare urbans (I know many that think most welfare are urban people unwilling to work), list goes on to most that have had struggles. In general, too much of the church are rejecting their responsibility to their neighbor because they have their rules. Most of the protest group and many others outside the church have the love of Christ, while so much of the church has passed by on the other side of the road. As a Christian, it breaks my heart.

I hear alot about Christian unity, I don’t want unity of people that call themselves Christian, but unity of those that have the love of Christ. I feel the love of Christ more at the protest, and to be clear there are many that Christians there but I doubt most identify as Christian. More of the church needs to be there, as Jesus did to reject the views of most religious leaders and to stand by the love of God, even with those that do not have the “correct rules”. It is all about love.