Read Luke 10:25-37
A lawyer came to test Jesus and ended up being tested by Jesus. Then the question that gave birth to the “Good Samaritan” parable: “Who is my neighbor?” Surely there must be some categories in which some reprobate groups of people can be placed outside of the “my neighbor” category. For this man who was testing Jesus the Samaritan people were just such a group. Surely they don’t count as real neighbors. We might have our own groups of people that we would like to exclude from “neighbors.” These are some that may be left out by some: prisoners, drug addicts, homeless, gays, illegal immigrants, Muslims, blacks, whites, Asians, elderly, handicapped, Jews, communists, democrats, or republicans.
What Jesus did in this parable, however, is Jesus made the Samaritan man the hero. And the “good guys” ended up falling short of really loving their neighbor. The one who fulfilled that law was the reprobate, half-breed, pig-loving Samaritan!
Not only are there no subcategories for the larger group “neighbor,” there are surprising ways in which even “lost neighbors” show more neighborly love than those who intellectually know God’s laws about loving others.
The hero was a good neighbor by showing mercy, compassion. Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”
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