Being Neighborly
Backstory:
While Jesus and his disciples were in Judaea, he was questioned by “an expert in the law” (Luke 10:25), a scholar well-versed in the Jewish Scriptures. The expert in the law addressed Jesus as “teacher” and asked him about eternal life (discussions about achieving eternal life and about the essence of the law were common in Judaism). The man’s follow-up question prompted Jesus to tell one of his most memorable parables.

God’s Story:
Living in such a way that my people love all their neighbors, regardless of how different they are from them, is the vision I have for my kingdom to come. Prejudice and pride have no place in my future community.

Read Luke 10:25-37

Your Story:
To best understand what Jesus said in the parable of the Good Samaritan, you need to realize that the priest and the Levite were temple personnel who could trace their ancestry back to the tribe of Levi. The Samaritans were a mixed-blood race resulting from the inter-marriage of Israelites left behind when the people of the northern kingdom were exiled, and Gentiles brought into the land by the Assyrians. This “good” Samaritan, therefore, was a social outcast in Jewish society. Think of some modern equivalents today and you’ll get the full impact of this story. It was a pretty radical message. The key application is not “Who is my neighbor?” But “Who has proved themselves to be my neighbor?” Have you?