Who is my neighbor?

Posted 1/29/2002

We were watching the video "żEres mi prójimo?" a Veggietales video about being kind to your neighbor. The part I saw was the unfortunate situation in Zapatolandia (a land in which everybody wore shoes on their heads), which was at odds with their neighbors who wore only pans on their heads (I forget their names). Basically it was the story of the Good Samaritan.

The story of the Good Samaritan is so well-known in America, that there are even laws in many states that allow skilled people to act as good Samaritans and help motorists in need of assistance, without fear of lawsuit (here's an example from Missouri).

The Samaritans were not Jews. These people were a mix of forced immigrants and Jews that had not been brought off to captivity 2Ki 17:24. They mostly followed the religion of the Jews, but the Jews would have nothing to do with them. Thus followed quite the feud, with the Samaritans building their own temple twice, after the first one was destroyed by the Jews. At the time of Christ, tensions were particularly high, and there were few more contemptible to a Jew than a Samaritan.

Jesus' encounters with the Samaritans:

  1. The woman at the well John 4:4-42 and her city welcomed the gospel.
  2. He was rejected from a village, on His was to Jerusalem Luk 9:51-56
  3. He was accused of being a Samaritan, along with being possessed by a devil John 8:48
  4. The 12 disciples were not to go to Samaria on their first missions trip Mat 10:5, as they were Gentiles.
  5. The only thankful one of the ten lepers was a Samaritan Luk 17:11-19

The story of the Good Samaritan Luk 10:30-35 was told by Jesus, in response to a question by a lawyer trying to trick Him: "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Luk 10:25-29. Jesus in return asked him what the law says. The lawyer correctly answered that "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." Jesus agreed, but the man wasn't finished, asking "Who is my neighbor?"

A Jew is travelling when he gets accosted by theives, who strip him of everything he had, and beat him half dead. As he's laying there, two fellow Jews pass on the opportunity to help, a priest and a Levite. They both saw him, and steered clear of the wounded man.

But, a Samaritan had compassion on him, bandaged his wounds with his own supplies, made the bleeding guy comfortable in his own car, went out of his way to find a nearby medical facility, and paid all the care up front. He even offered to pick up any extra expenses next time he came by. He showed mercy, he gave of what he had, he made an effort to help. Ok, it was oil & wine, a donkey, and an inn, but the idea is the same!

All verses in this article