Exactly who is my neighbor?” asked one of the scribes one day (Luke 10:25-37). Jesus had just told him that he should love his neighbor as himself. But this religious leader wanted to verify exactly who is neighbor might be. However, to all Jews, their neighbors were fellow Jews. So why then was this scribe quizzing Jesus if he already knew the answer? The text records that he is curious about his neighbor because he is hoping to justify himself. His desire is to let Jesus know that he is doing just fine in loving his fellow Jews.
So Jesus answers him by telling a story of a man, most likely a Jew, who was going from Jerusalem to Jericho. As was custom on the road he was traveling, this man fell into the hands of robbers. They beat him, took his money and clothes, and left him for dead. Fortunately however, a priest comes walking down the road. But he doesn’t stop. Jesus doesn’t say why, but there could have been all kinds of reasons. One, touching a dead body would make one unclean, assuming this man is dead. And to go through the ritual to become clean again was lengthy. Who wanted to give up that much time if you didn’t have to?
Second, was this injured man really the priest’s responsibility? Remember, Jews were neighbors to Jews. So since there was no way to tell if this unconscious naked man is a Jew or not (people in middle east are identified by their accent and clothes), it’s best just to pass by. Good news however, another man comes walking down the road. This time it is a Levite. But he also doesn’t stop and help either. Most likely for many of the same reasons. To get involved was just way too risky.
BUT A SAMARITAN (This is a shocking turn in the story. No one would have expected to hear “Samaritan.”), when he came down the road and saw this wounded man, he had compassion for him. And we know of his compassion because of his actions. This Samaritan helped this wounded man up, began to take care of his wounds, put him on his mule, carried him to the closest inn, and paid for him to stay there until he regained his strength. And so, Jesus asks, which one of these three guys was the neighbor? I’m sure it took all the courage this scribe could muster to point out that it was the Samaritan who was the neighbor. This was quite a twist in the story. The Samaritans were not respected at all by the Jews. They were the outcasts and the outsiders and yet in this story, it was the Samaritan who satisfied the requirements of the law. The despised Samaritan became the hero of the story.
We don’t always think about it, but what this Samaritan did was quite risky. For him to be carrying an unconscious Jew on his mule does in no way look good. No one would dare believe that a Samaritan is saving the life of a Jew. For why would a Samaritan ever stop and help a Jew? Jews believed that all Samaritans were second rate human beings who deserved God’s judgment. A Jew definitely wouldn’t stop to help a Samaritan. What would you think if you saw a perceived enemy carrying an unconscious friend? From all outward appearances, the more likely scenario is that this Samaritan is looking to dump the body somewhere. It’s always good to dispose of the evidence. But this Samaritan risked everything to help. How humbling it must have been for him. Imagine aiding someone who continually looks down on you. And yet this Samaritan showed love.
I think that what Jesus is trying to get all of us to do, not just the scribe, is for us to change our question. Notice that the scribe asks, “So who is my neighbor?” But Jesus, at the end of his parable asks, “So which of these guys is the neighbor?” The question needs to be not “Who is your neighbor?”, but “Are you ready to be a neighbor?” Helmut Thielicke writes that “we cannot go and do and love, if we stop and ask first, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ The devil has been waiting for us to ask this question; and he will always whisper into our ears only the most convenient answers.” Instead, he writes, “we need to ask ‘To whom am I a neighbor? Who is laid at my door? Who is expecting help from me and who looks upon me as his neighbor?’”
The above was taken from my book The Cross-Shaped Life: Taking on Christ’s Humanity.