Love Your Neighbor As You Would Love Yourself
Luke 10:25-37
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do likewise.
The most educated and most religious of the three who saw the man that had been beaten and robbed did not stop to help. Why? We were told the priest did not stop in fear of getting soiled. He would have then had to clean up again before attending services and would probably be late. The Levite likewise would have either been late to his destination or it wasn't in his interest to stop and help.
The Samaritan didn't have much in common with the injured man. He was not from the same culture but had compassion towards the individual. The Samaritan began the man's healing process by dressing his wounds and taking him to an inn enlisting and paying others to complete the hurt man's care. It is good to remember that the Samaritan didn't do it all. Some get overwhelmed trying to do it all. God gave the Samaritan a job (transport and payment), the Samaritan gave the inn keeper a job (lodging and care), the inn keeper likely hired another to administer treatment (like a doctor). Noticing that one person doesn't carry the load is important.
Closer 2 Jesus
God Bless =)
