26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
27 The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.
32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.
34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.
35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
- Luke 10:25-37
There came a time when a teacher of the law came up to Jesus one day to test Him. He asked Jesus what he needed to do in order to obtain eternal life. Jesus then did what He did many times, He asked a question back. Jesus asked, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?"
The teacher of the law said, "You must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And, Love your neighbor as yourself."
In order for us to truly love the Lord we must believe that He exist of course and we also must believe in the One He sent. God demonstrated His great love for all mankind by sending the most precious of gifts, Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. We are called to love the Lord with all of our minds, bodies, souls, and strength. We ought to love the Lord with every fiber of our being. The Lord loves us this much. Should we not love Him the same.
Jesus demonstrated His great love for each of us by going obediently to the Cross where He shed His blood for our sins once and for all. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day conquering the grave and showing us that He is indeed God. We must come to the conclusion that we are sinners and we can't save ourselves and then receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
We ought to live for the Lord and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells everyone that has placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We know we love the Lord because we have that desire to obey Him and His Holy Word, the Bible. We are also called to love out neighbors as ourselves.
We believers who say we love the Lord ought to be showing our love for Him by loving our neighbors. Without the love of God in our hearts it would be nearly impossible for us to have a true love for our neighbor. Sometimes we find it hard to love other people. Some people are hard to please and cranky. Some are hard hearted and stubborn. Some people like to complain and moan and groan. The more I think of those things that I just wrote the more I can relate to each one because I myself do those things at times. Sometimes I am not very lovable. Sometimes I am not very compassionate to my fellow human beings. I want to be, but there are times when the desire and power to do so is not there.
We all need compassion and mercy, don't we? We sure do. Thankfully, God is rich in mercy and full of compassion. The Lord Jesus told a parable to the teacher of the law who had asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor. We are all familiar with the story I am sure. People who have never cracked open a Bible in their lives have heard about the Good Samaritan.
The illustration goes like this. There was a man who was on a journey on a road heading from Jerusalem to Jericho. The road was dangerous. There were twists and turns. There were also plenty of hiding places for robbers to hide and jump out when you were least expecting it to take all that you had. This is what happened to this poor Jewish man. Robbers came out of the caves near the road and jumped him. They beat him so very severely with many blows and left him in a bloody heap on the side of the road. They took all of his belongings and all of his money. They even took his cloths. They not only took his stuff, but they robbed him of his dignity and his humanity. How awful!
The man lay there half dead on the side of the road when all of a sudden a priest came along. Surely, a priest would stop and help this man in dire need, but no he didn't. The priest say the man and crossed over to the other side of the road and kept going. Maybe the priest was in a hurry or he thought the man was dead and didn't what to get ceremonially unclean. Either way the priest didn't stop.
A while later a Levite or a Temple assistant, as the NLT Bible calls him, walked by. Surely he would stop to render aid to this man in distress, but no he kept on going. Can you imagine waiting for someone to help you in your time of need?
Then came a long a despised Samaritan. The Jews and Samaritans had a rocky relationship. They hated each other with a passion. The Jews looked down on Samaritans rather harshly. The Jews wanted nothing to do with the Samaritans. When this Samaritan man saw this badly beaten Jewish fellow on the side of the road he had compassion in his heart for him.
He stopped and went over to this badly injured man and he helped him. The Samaritan banged his wounds and treated him. Then he took him to and in and paid the inn keeper to look after this man in need.
Then after Jesus told this parable He asked the teacher of the law which of the three was a neighbor to the man who was beaten and left for dead. The teacher of the law answered that it was the one who showed mercy to him.
Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."
There are many people all around us that are in need. They may not have been beaten by robbers, but they have been beaten by life itself. The devil may have knocked them around and robbed them of their joy or dreams. Some people may feel beaten by substance abuse and feel like they have been passed by and looked down on by the religious elite.
We believers in Jesus Christ need to love the Lord with all of hearts, minds, bodies, and souls. We also ought and must love our neighbors as ourselves. May we not think ourselves too good to lend a helping hand to those in despair and in need.
We may need to get out hands dirty and help someone that is stuck in the mud on the path of life. May we show compassion and the love of Christ to those in need.
Let us now go and do the same by showing mercy to those left on the side of life's road.
Lord,
We love You!
Help us to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Empower us by the Holy Spirit to show compassion to those in need.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen
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