In Luke 10:25-37 an expert in Jewish Law asks Jesus about what he must do to go to heaven. As an expert in Jewish Law, he knew the answer. He was testing Jesus.

Not surprising, Jesus turns the table on him and asks the expert, “What does the Jewish Law say?”

Quick with an answer the “lawyer” replies, “‘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.’” 

The expert summarizes the entire Law of Moses in one sentence. Jesus affirms this answer.

That answer was not satisfying enough. He had to take it a step further. (He should know better than to push Jesus.) The expert in the law asked this, “And who is my neighbor?” 

Hold on to your hats, Jesus is going to tell a story… and he did. The parable of the Good Samaritan. Here it is (if you don’t know the story)…

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of 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, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins 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.’ 

In one paragraph Jesus offends pretty much everyone. The two people who passed by the injured man were like the “expert in the law.” They were too busy with their own careers to help this man. The unsaid implication was this: if the priest or Levite stopped and helped this man, they would be deemed “unclean” and unfit for service at the Temple in Jerusalem. They chose to remain clean and walk on by.

The Samaritan helped this poor guy. Yet Samaritans in Jesus’ time were viewed as impure half-breeds and heretics. The Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews for terrible reasons. It was racist. The Jewish authorities essentially kicked the Samaritans out of the “family” 500 years before Jesus for “mixing” with non-Jewish Tribes at that point the Samaritans began to worship God somewhere else (Mt. Gerizim). That made the Samaritans heretics too since the only place you can truly worship God was the Temple in Jerusalem.

Yet Jesus points out that the un-redeemable and horrible Samaritan was more compassionate than the priest and Levite. Tell me that wasn’t upsetting to the expert in the Law?

Yet Jesus doesn’t answer the question posed by this lawyer (Who is my neighbor?). Instead Jesus asks this, “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.” 

See what Jesus did there? He didn’t answer the original question of “Who is my neighbor?”. Instead Jesus instructs the expert of the law and us to be a neighbor.

The original question gets at “Who do I have to be nice to?”. Jesus flips the script and tells us that this question is not as important as being neighborly. The main ingredient of being a neighbor is having mercy on people.

Notice, Jesus doesn’t put qualifications on who we should be neighborly to. Just “Go and do likewise.” Be merciful to people… especially those who are struggling in any way (like the injured guy who probably was not a Samaritan).

What does this have to do with us today as Christians. A lot actually. Recently there has been a movement of declaring yourself a “safe person” to all people by wearing a safety pin. The safety pin obvious symbolizes that you are a safe person to all people without qualification. It is a sign of being neighborly and showing mercy to those who might need a neighbor right now. I have nothing against being that kind of person in the world (no surprise there, right?).

However, what makes me sad is that the “cross” we wear as jewelry and the cross we display on our cars and other places does not symbolizes safety unless you are a fellow Christian (to those on the outside.) If I were to wear a cross on my lapel, it may cause some people to fear me because of what I may “stand for” as a Christian. That is not to say we are all “like that.” It is clear to me that the Christian family does not appear to be “safe” for other people when we must resort to using safety pins and not the cross of Christ.

Being neighborly shouldn’t be conditional. The expert in the law was hoping to discover who he could be merciful to- and more importantly who he did not have to be kind to. Jesus doesn’t define who our neighbor is, instead he instructs us to be a merciful neighbor to all without condition.

I would like the cross to be a sign of God’s compassion again and not a symbol that causes someone to pause and wonder if we are safe people to talk to or wonder if we will help them in their time of trouble.

God bless,
Pr. Ben