“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22: 36-40.
The Williferds and the Westamonians
In the small town where they lived, everyone knew that the Williferd and the Westamonian families did not get along. Actually, they could not stand each other. Donald was a Westamonian. As long as he could remember, he was told to stay away from the Wlliferds, and anyone related to them. His father always said, the only good Williferd was one who didn’t live here, and never came to visit. Donald used to ask his parents how this feud started, but they would never tell him. He even asked his grandparents, but they remained hushed-mouth about it too.
How Did It Start?
Donald sort of thought that maybe the feud went back so far that no one could actually remember how it started. He didn’t really have anything against the Williferd boys. There were four of them. One was his age, seventeen, one was a year older, and the twins were two years younger. He basically stayed away from them, and they stayed away from him. In school, they didn’t have any classes together. A couple of years ago though, he really liked their cousin, Amber. He built up his courage and asked her to the movies. He had really sort of forgotten that she was part of the Williferd family. She had a different last name, and she didn’t really hang out with any of them. She was a Williferd though, and when he told his parents he had asked her to the movies, they had a fit.
Not Gonna Happen
Amber came to him in school the next day, and told him that her parent’s had forbidden her to go out with him. That was that. Shortly after school that day, the four Williferd boys ran up on him. They didn’t do anything, but they let him know that Amber is their cousin, and he should stay away from her, if he knew what was good for him. Now Donald didn’t take kindly to any implied threats. He didn’t say anything, but he glared back at them. One Friday evening, Donald was on his way home from a youth activity at his church. He was driving his dad’s car, as he always did when going to his youth meetings. As he headed home, he noticed a car on the side of the road. Donald recognized it. It belonged to the oldest Williferd boy.
Not My Business
Donald’s first instinct was to just keep driving. It wasn’t any of his business. In their youth group meeting this evening though, their youth leader had talked about the Good Samaritan. Donald pulled over, and got out of the car. He walked over to the stranded car. The oldest Williferd boy, Tanner, was in the car on his phone. He looked suspiciously up at Donald. “You need something?” he asked. Donald answered, “Just saw you pulled over, and wanted to see if everything was ok.” Tanner sighed. “I ran out of gas. I’m trying to get someone to come take me to the gas station, but nobody is picking up the phone.”
Offering Help To An Enemy
The only gas station was on the other side of town. Donald thought for a moment. “C’mon. I’ll take you.” Tanner looked at him cautiously. “Ok. Fine with me.” he said. On the ride to the gas station to get the gas, and on the way home, neither one of them said a word. As Tanner got out of the car with the gas can, he turned back to Donald. “This ain’t gonna change anything, but just know that I appreciate what you done for me. Thanks.” Then he turned and headed to his car. Donald stayed in his car until Tanner put the gas in his car and started it up. Then he headed home.
The Story Is Familiar
If this story sounds sort of familiar, well it should. It’s based off of the story of the Good Samaritan referenced earlier in the story. In Luke 10:25-37 Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. An expert in the Law, a scribe who was supposedly an expert in the Law of God, had asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what it said in the Law. The expert in the law told him that it said to “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.” Jesus told him that he had answered correctly, and to do this and live. The law expert, to justify himself, then asked Jesus who his neighbor was.
The Second Great Commandment
The command to love your neighbor as yourself is found in Leviticus 19:18. It is called the second great commandment. The book of Leviticus is about sanctification, and holy living. Receiving God’s forgiveness and acceptance should be followed by holy living. Leviticus 19 is a practical application of holy conduct in society. It is interesting to note that Leviticus 19:18 reads, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” You usually only want to seek revenge, or hold a grudge against someone, if you feel they have wronged you in some way. So even if you are so angry with someone, so much so, that you want to seek revenge against them, God says no. Love them as you love yourself.
The Promise
The promise, in Luke 10: 25-28 is if we love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul and mind, and love our neighbor as our self, then we will to inherit eternal life. Wow! That’s hard to do. Has anyone ever done that? Think about it. Be honest and don’t kid yourself. We would have to say no, we haven’t. As sinners, we are unable to obey the law. The Law though, points us to Christ. We are only justified through Christ. Now the Law expert, though, realizing he was unable to keep these commands, and wanting to justify himself, or clear himself of any guilt in the matter, asked Jesus, who were his neighbors. Now the scribes and Pharisees believed their neighbors were only the righteous. The wicked, which included, tax collectors, prostitutes, Gentiles, and especially those Samaritans, were to be hated because they were enemies of God. This is when Jesus went into the parable about the Good Samaritan.
Jews And Samaritans
The Jews and the Samaritans did not get along, in fact, they were enemies. Let’s go back a little. To make a long story short, the nation of Israel had split into two kingdoms. Israel was made up of ten tribes to the north, and Judah was composed of the tribes of Judah, and Benjamin to the south. Samaria was the capital city of Israel, with Jeroboam as king, and the capital of Judah was Jerusalem, and Rehoboam, Solomon’s son was king. Israel’s King, Jeroboam changed the place of worship for the Israelites, so they would no longer travel to Jerusalem to worship and offer sacrifices to God. He set up idols in Dan and Bethel. After Israel fell to Assyrians, they began to intermarry with them which was contrary to what God commanded of them in Deuteronomy 7: 3-5. This is why the Jews hated the Samaritans and referred to them as “half-breeds.”
To Summarize
To summarize the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, a Jewish man was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was robbed and beaten, and left on the road for dead. A priest passed by, but when he saw the man, he crossed to the other side of the road. A Temple assistant also walked by, and when he saw the man, he also crossed to the other side of the road. Then a despised Samaritan man came along, and had compassion for the man. He nursed his wounds, then put the man on his donkey and took him to an Inn, where he took care of him. He gave the Innkeeper some money, and asked him to take care of the man, and if there were any additional costs, he would pay them on his return trip. Jesus then asked, which one of the three would you say was a good neighbor to the man who had been attacked. The man answered that the one who showed him mercy, which was the Samaritan. Jesus told him to go and do the same.
Who Is Our Neighbor?
Ok, so who is our neighbor, and how can we love our neighbor as we love our self? According to Jesus, everyone is our neighbor, from the person next door, to the person on the other side of town, to a person on the other side of the world. It doesn’t matter their political party, their religion, their economic status, or any other differences there might be. According to Christ, all are our neighbors, and we should love them as we love ourselves. So what does it mean to love our neighbors as our self?
What Does It Mean To Love Our Neighbors As Our Self?
It means to love them unconditionally, the way God loves us? The way we, as God’s creation, should love ourselves. Unconditional love does not depend on the actions or attitudes of others. Love is sacrificial. It gives, and expects nothing in return. Love, Biblical love, is not just a feeling, but a way of relating to others. 1 Corinthians 13 is a whole chapter about what love is. Verses 4 to 7 state, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes always perseveres.”
Love Them. I Don’t Even Like Them!
To “Like,” on the other hand, is more based on behavior. You like this person because of this, or you don’t like this person because they do that, or because they think like this. You can still treat a person with love though, even if you do not particularly like them, or should I say, their actions. What does this mean for us today? Let’s take a look back at Donald, in our story. The two families did not like each other, but when Donald saw Tanner stranded with his vehicle, instead of just leaving him there, he showed unconditional love by driving Tanner to the gas station. He asked for nothing in return, just like the Samaritan asked for nothing in return.
It Could Be World Changing!
If we, as Christians would truly love our neighbor as we do our self, it would be world changing. Really, it’s just showing the love of Christ, which is what we are supposed to be doing anyway. With everyone! Isn’t the love of Christ world changing? As divided as the world is now, what a great witness it would be for Christ if we actually practiced loving our neighbor as we love our self. How do we put this to practice? I believe, if we love others as we love ourselves, we will treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated. For example, if I have a disagreement with you, I will still show you the respect and dignity that I would want you to show me. I would listen to what you say, just like I’d want you to listen to what I say. In every situation, we would treat others in the same way in which we would want to be treated. I believe that is how we love others as we love ourselves.
Not A Suggestion
Leviticus 19:18 is not a suggestion. It is not something we are asked to do, if we feel like it. It is a command. We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. No, it is not an easy thing to do, but when we put our trust in Christ, he will help us to grow to the point where we are able to do this. Remember, as Christians, we are always in the process of becoming. Always in the process of growing. God is always showing us areas in our lives that we need to have conformed to his will.
Pick Of The Post
Thoughts? Comments? Let me know what you think. To love others as we love ourselves, how do you feel we can put that into action? The pic of this post is called, Love Beyond Time, because God’s love for us goes beyond all time. To view this picture, just click on the “Post Of The Pic” link.