A Wonder on the Road
Luke 10:25-37
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Key Text: Luke 10:29
“But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’”
Are you the kind of person who dares to make eye contact with a homeless person, or who stops to help someone whose car has broken down? Just how far should we go to help other people?
It’s not an easy decision. If we give money to someone pacing at an intersection while holding up a cardboard sign asking for help, are we enabling their dependency when they might be working?
Who should we help, and how?
We are not the first to ask the question.
The story of the “Good Samaritan” is so familiar that we often forget it is the answer to a question posed by a man who wanted to know just how far the demands of love extended. “Who is my neighbor?” means “Who do I have to love?”
What’s number one? (vv. 25-29)
In our last few studies, Luke has been recounting Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem. Shortly after the triumphant return of the seventy from their pioneering mission trips, according to Luke’s account, a curious scribe asked Jesus what he might do to inherit eternal life (v. 26).
Mark and Matthew include similar stories in other contexts (Matt. 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34). In their accounts, the scribe – also known as a lawyer, since scribes were experts in the Jewish law – asked Jesus to name the greatest commandment in the law, and Jesus gave the answer.
As Luke tells it, Jesus responded in typical rabbinic fashion by turning the question back on his inquisitor: “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” (v. 26).
The lawyer responded by citing two Old Testament verses. The first was from Deut. 6:5: “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.”
Readers familiar with the text in Deuteronomy will note that “mind” is not there. Ancient Hebrews thought of the heart as the seat of decision-making as well as emotion, but Greek thought attributed choice to the mind. First century Jews had long been influenced by Greek culture, so it became common to add “all your mind” to the command. [DD]
Greek thought had also influenced Jewish thinking in another way. The Hebrew word translated as “soul” in Deut. 6:5 is nefesh, used to describe the animating breath of God that made one a living being (Gen. 2:7). Animals also had a nefesh because they were alive. We might think of one’s nefesh as the essence of one’s being.
In Greek philosophy, body and soul were thought of as separate, with the soul as a spirit that inhabited the physical body and lived on after the body’s demise. This concept had also become absorbed in Jewish thought.
The point of the Great Commandment is that one should recognize Israel’s God (known as Yahweh) as the only God, and love God with all of one’s emotional, mental, and physical capacity. [DD]
To fully appreciate this verse, we note that in this context the word “love” is not about emotional attachment or spiritual thrill, but loyalty. Much of Deuteronomy is similar to ancient suzerainty treaties in which a victorious invader would impose terms on his new subjects. Invariably, the new vassals were to “love” the conquering king. No one expected a vanquished people to feel warm emotions toward their conqueror, but they did expect loyalty.
We may not always feel emotionally connected or loving toward God, but we are always to remain loyal.
Those who understood the law recognized that we live among other people, and no amount of “love” for God means anything if we do not treat people with kindness. Thus, the Great Commandment was typically accompanied by an excerpt from Lev. 19:18, rendered by Luke as simply “and your neighbor as yourself.” [DD]
Jesus declared it the right answer (v. 28), but the scribe wasn’t entirely satisfied. He had a sneaking suspicion that Jesus’ definition of “neighbor” might be different than his own.
Many readers are unaware that the “Second Commandment” is taken from the second half of the verse in Lev. 19:8, which reads in full: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
Since the first part of the parallel structure speaks of “your people,” some argued that the second part applied only to fellow Hebrews. More legalistic rabbis defined “neighbor” even more narrowly, limiting the term to other Jews who scrupulously adhered to the law.
So, the scribe asked for a definition of terms. Perhaps he wanted to see how little love he could get away with and still count on his eternal inheritance. He wanted “to justify himself,” according to Luke. So, the man asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29).
Who’s my neighbor? (vv. 30-37)
Jesus responded by telling the man a story. It is one of the several parables that are found only in Luke’s gospel, which often places greater stress on the place of the poor and the downtrodden. [DD]
The story Jesus told goes like this: “There once was a man who stopped at a pay phone by an abandoned convenience store on his way to Myrtle Beach. There he was attacked by robbers who stole his Camry and took all of his belongings – including his shirt – then beat him up and left him lying by the road, broken and bruised and looking half dead.
“A volunteer youth worker drove by and saw his battered body in the ditch, but she did not want to get involved, so she swiftly clicked her turn signal and moved to the left-hand lane. Shortly after, a local pastor came cruising down the road, but he was too busy doing God’s work to stop for someone who appeared to be a drunken bum. He did, however, use his cellular phone to call 911 and report the vagrant.
“After these had passed by, a young man from Mexico with no documents came by in his employer’s rickety farm truck. When he saw the man in the ditch, he slowed to a quick stop and backed up. He put his own jacket beneath the victim’s head, then got a first aid kit from the truck and worked until he had stopped the bleeding. He helped the poor guy into a worn hoodie and boosted into the truck. The young Latino then drove him to a local motel, where he bought the man a room for the night and left his cell phone number in case he needed anything else.”
Well, that’s not exactly the way Jesus told the story, is it? But close enough. In Jesus’ story, two religious people ignored the poor victim, but a Samaritan – despised and unwanted in Jewish territory – stopped to help.
The story makes it clear that real love does not grow from meeting legalistic requirements, but from a compassionate heart.
And who should we love? Who is our neighbor? For those who follow Jesus, our neighbor is anybody who needs us. The Greek word for neighbor (plēsion) literally refers to one who is nearby. The English word has a similar derivation: it comes from the Old English words neah boor. Some Southerners still pronounce “near” as “neah.” The word “boor” originally referred to anyone belonging to the peasant class. Jesus did not define the term geographically, however, but in terms of awareness and need.
We now live in what is sometimes called a “global village.” Having seen images of the earth from outer space, we recognize that we are all earthlings. Surely none of us would fail to feed a starving child who came to our doorstep: should the needs of hungry children in the Sudan or India or Haiti should appeal to us any less? Are they also our neighbors?
Every day, we make decisions about whether we will love our neighbors or not. Some of our neighbors will reward us with the warm fuzzies of gratitude. Taking chicken soup to a recent surgery patient will rarely go unappreciated.
Not everyone will be in a hurry to thank us, however. Many of the folks who need our help may be angry over the bad hand life has dealt them, or they may lack the social skills or developmental ability to respond appropriately. Maybe their parents abused or misused them, and they have an inbred suspicion of people who want to get involved with their lives, even to make them better. Maybe they are so addicted to alcohol or some other drug that they can no longer think clearly.
Those who work in soup kitchens or in other programs for the homeless know that some recipients will show humble gratitude, others will come through the line with a blank expression on their face, while yet others will complain that the food is not hot enough, good enough, or served in sufficient quantities.
Are all of these persons our neighbors? Do believers have a responsibility to minister in Jesus’ name, even to those who do not understand or appreciate such love? Can the parable of the “Good Samaritan” be interpreted in any other way? [DD]
As he often did, Jesus turned the scribe’s question around and gave it a deeper meaning. Instead of limiting his answer to a definition of neighbor, he raised the issue of how one truly obeys the law to love one’s neighbor. In Jesus’ teaching, the truest obedience is loving service. It is not so much “what will I do,” but “what will I be” – that is, a loving person.
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: Luke 10:25-37
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
Our students have big ideas. Maybe they haven’t been stymied by the world telling that it isn’t possible to do what they want to do. Maybe they haven’t thought through how hard it would be, or how much work it will take to complete their task. But, parents shouldn’t be the ones who crush their dreams. Help your students dreams come true of serving others. Surround them with people who can help them. Give them opportunities for them to succeed. You never know, their big ideas may turn into reality.
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: Luke 10:25-37
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
Encourage youth to check out this video ahead of the lesson.
“Kindness goes viral” from Coke
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