Jesus : The Good Neighbor

A Lawyer came to Jesus to test him. He asked Jesus: "How do I gain eternal life?" I suspect Jesus knew the man expected a "keep the system faithfully" type of answer. So, since, he was a Law expert, Jesus asked him: "What does the Law say?"

The Lawyer answered -- quoting Scripture, which I am just paraphrasing: "Love God Love people. Put God first. Put people before yourself." Jesus answered: "Yep! 100 percent on that quiz!!"

But the Lawyer thinks: "If I do that, I may have to get involved with the riff raff, make myself unclean, and lose respect of all the important people in town." So, he asks Jesus: "Who is my neighbor?" If Jesus says the people in your neighborhood, or social circle, he can deal with that.

But, Jesus tells a story about a man, who was mugged and left for dead.

Two men, pillars of the community, who would be held up as examples to emulate, see the man lying in a heap, and walk on by. It was more important to them to keep ceremonially clean, than to dirty themselves helping someone.

Another man walks by. He is part Jewish. He does not worship the God of Israel. Goodm law-abiding Jews avoid contact with his kind. He sees the man, has compassion, and helps the man. He gives first aid. He gets the man a room at a local hotel. He gives the hotel manager some money to take care of him. And he gives the manager what was essentially a blank check. He guarantees he will pay for whatever else the manager spends to care for the hurt man.

God did give cleanliness laws to the Jews. And he meant for them to keep them. But if the Laws the Lawyer quoted meant eternal life (if they are the greatest commandments, as it says elsewhere) then the should have #1 priority. The Jews should be obeying these laws above all others.

As I was considering how the Jews looked down on Samaritans, and one of them obeyed God's Law better than one of the best of them, I realized that the Jewish leaders, the "best" of the Jews, looked down on Jesus. 

Unlike the Samaritan, Jesus worshipped the God of the Bible. Like the Samaritan, Jesus got too close to unclean people. He obeyed the Great Commandment to the point of giving a blank check. He paid for us to gain entrance into God's family. He will pay whatever we need to be healed, whole, and well. 

Our Hearts

In part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus quotes the Law that murder is wrong, and murderers are liable for judgment. But Jesus clarifies that someone, who is angry, or gives insults, as an expression of anger, is equally guilty before the Law.

Jesus quotes the Law that adultery is wrong. But Jesus clarifies that lustful desires are equally wrong.

The last of the Ten Commandments says we should not have wrong desires.

The Bible does not stop with our actions. It moves into our inner life. It includes, and judges, our thinking, emotions, imagination, motives, and will.

The words the Bible uses for "heart" in both the Old and New Testaments encompass all of the above. So, it looks to me like the people of Jesus' day regarded a person's inner core as one unit. And Jesus said that outward actions flow from the inner core. A person goes in a direction that his\her inner core agrees with.

So, part of the transformation process is agreement with God's word with our inner core. If a person knows cognitively that God loves people, and choosing to follow him results in justification of sin, reconciliation to God, and redemption into his family. So, we should share God's Good News with people. But if someone's imagination paint pictures of rejection, of failure, and being foolish, how wholehearted will he be in pursuing it? His inner core is in disagreement.

Scripture says that God's Spirit is stronger than our hearts. It is his business to bring all of the parts of our hearts into alignment.