Luke 10:25-29 NIV:
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’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”
“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?”
Work on the Jericho Road
Jesus had been noticed. He had been seen in various communities showing compassion to the outcast of society. He was involved in community revitalization by providing encouragement to those who had no hope. He was healing people with physical maladies and spiritual afflictions. Jesus was seen doing ministry.
There were those who were happy to receive him and there were those who questioned the work he was doing. Jesus, a worker who did not mind getting his hands soiled by working, seemed to know the rabbinical law and went about helping people regardless of their status in the community. There was something different about Jesus and an expert in the Jewish and rabbinical law set out to see if Jesus really knew the law.
The lawyer asked Jesus what he needed to inherit eternal life. Jesus answered the lawyer’s question with a question. Jesus asked the lawyer his interpretation of the law. After all, the lawyer was an expert. The lawyer answered correctly by stating the requirements of the law to love God and to love “your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus confirmed the lawyer had answered correctly, but the lawyer wanted a definition of “neighbor” so that he could justify who he would choose to love. Jesus did more than give a one-sentence definition of a neighbor.
He told the story of a man who was attacked on the Jericho Road by thieves. They took all of the man’s possessions, including his clothes, and beat the man severely. In the story, Jesus told of a beaten man lying near death on the side of the road unable to do anything for himself. He tells first of a priest who came by and saw the man and went to the other side of the road, leaving the man in his state of undress and injured. The second person to come by and see the man in need was a Levite who also went to the other side of the road and did not help. The third man who came by and saw the naked, injured man was a Samaritan and he showed the stranger love by tending to his wounds and taking the injured man to a hotel and paying for lodging for the man.
The lawyer wanted to test Jesus and wanted to justify himself by limiting who he had to love, but from the story of the Good Samaritan, the limitations on who is a neighbor are removed and there are lessons we can learn:
1. Jericho Road is both symbolic and real. There is a figurative Jericho Road that runs through all communities and many homes. The road is a breeding ground for pain and abuse.
The road has many hiding places for those who are themselves sick and spread their particular contagious affliction among the unsuspecting travelers of this symbolic road. There was, indeed, a road from Jerusalem to Jericho and it was known to be unsafe because of the criminals that lay in wait to rob and commit other crimes.
The winding road is still a hideout for the workers of iniquity who have no regard for human life and have no respect for godly relationships and no compassion for those who are vulnerable. The Jericho Road will continue to be littered with broken bodies and those persons barely hanging on to life, unless ministries are undertaken by those who follow the teachings of Jesus.
2. Love is a commandment. Leviticus 19:9-18 is an outline on how to treat others and how to live an upright life: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God. You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD. You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
3. A title will not compel anyone to show love. The priest and the Levite were officials who were called to show compassion, but neither even offered a drink of water to the injured man on the Jericho Road. Titles and church membership or church affiliations will not ensure compassionate behavior, but one who is reborn. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (New King James Version) says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
St. James AME Church is located at 360 Dorothy St. in Charleston and worship service is held on the first and third Sunday of each month at 11 a.m. You may also join us on Zoom – pastorv.com.
