Jesus parables or stories are very powerful messages. We listen to the story and then find we are soon involved too. A man comes to Jesus with the aim of ensuring that his eternal future is secure. (We certainly all desire to do the same!) Jesus refers him to the law. Love God totally and love your neighbour in the same way you love and care for yourself. The man is now quite unsure. He is very dedicated to God so is confident about obeying that one, but whether he has fulfilled the second he is not so certain. So he tries to justify himself with the question “Who is my neighbour?” Because he knows he has loved his family and his close friends, but those foreigners who keep giving trouble to Israel, are those neighbours too?
Jesus tells the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. He concludes with the question – not who is my neighbour – but who of these three men was a neighbour to the poor man who fell into the hands of the robbers. Jesus turns the question around from our philosophising about the question, to one about the action we have taken.
Pastor Robert
