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.