Who is my neighbour?

Daniel Im

Lead Pastor

The Lawyer

· As much as the parable of the Good Samaritan is a story about a guy who gets mugged and how a Priest, Levite, and Samaritan interact with him...it all starts when an expert in the law—or a lawyer—asks Jesus a question

· Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”

“You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-29 CSB)

· For this lawyer, KNOWING and DOING are different things

The Man and the Robbers

· Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. (Luke 10:30 CSB)

· Usually you could identify a person's ethnicity and culture by the way they talked, their language, or by their clothes.

The Priest

· A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. (Luke 10:31 CSB)

· “The commandment not to defile was unconditional, while the commandment to love the neighbor was conditional. Therefore the priest had a legal right to pass by.” - Kenneth E. Bailey

The Levite

· In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. (Luke 10:32 CSB)

· The Levite would've known that the Priest passed by this man and didn't help, and he might’ve even seen him do it.

The Samaritan

· But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’ (Luke 10:33-35 CSB)

· Even though the Samaritan would have had all the excuses in the world not to stop and help this man, he instead sees this man, has compassion, generously performs first aid on him, and irrationally brings the guy to safety.

· The Samaritan did what the others didn't.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.” (Luke 10:37 CSB)

· Who is your neighbour?

· Who is God asking you to COME and DO with?

· Who is he laying on your heart to connect with to show and share the love of Jesus with over this next season of your life?