Scripture Daily

Context No. 1060 of 4322 · Luke

Context · Reflection

Luke 10:28-36: in context

28He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” 29But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, 34came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ 36Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”

A lawyer, wanting to justify himself, has asked Jesus, who is my neighbor? Jesus answers with a story. A man is beaten by robbers and left half dead on the Jericho road. A priest comes by, sees him, and passes on the other side. A Levite does the same. Then a Samaritan, a despised foreigner, comes, and where the religious men felt nothing, he is moved with compassion. He binds the wounds, pours on oil and wine, puts the man on his own animal, takes him to an inn, cares for him overnight, and pays the innkeeper to keep caring for him, promising to cover any further cost. Then Jesus flips the lawyer's question: which of these proved to be a neighbor?

The lawyer asked who is my neighbor, a question aimed at drawing a boundary, defining the limited circle of people he was obligated to love so he could feel justified about the rest. Jesus refuses to answer that question and asks a different one: which of these was a neighbor to the man? He changes it from who qualifies for my love to what kind of person am I. Neighbor is not a category to be defined and limited; it is something you become by showing mercy. And the sting is in the casting. The two who passed by were the religious professionals, the priest and Levite, men who knew the law about loving your neighbor and walked around the bleeding proof of it. The one who stopped was a Samaritan, the very kind of person the lawyer would have excluded from his circle. Jesus makes the outsider the hero and the insiders the failures, and then says to the expert in the law, go and do likewise. Mercy, not knowledge, is what makes a neighbor.

Do I ask who qualifies as my neighbor to limit my obligation, or am I willing to become a neighbor by stopping, at cost, for the person bleeding in front of me?

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