Luke 10:33 (ESV) But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
Now, we come to the third traveler on the road who saw the injured man. Most likely the injured man was a Jew. The Jews and Samaritans basically hated one another. They had fought in the past, their religions were different, and they didn’t like one another. If anyone would have been expected to pass by the wounded Jewish man, it would have been a Samaritan.
The first thing we see about the Samaritan is that he had compassion on the man. This is the same word used to describe how Jesus felt about people who were in trouble. That compassion motivated him to not pass the man by, but to go over to him.
Luke 10:34-35 (ESV) He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
The Samaritan treated the man’s wounds with the supplies he was carrying. As the man was not able to walk, he put the man on his own donkey. And the Samaritan walked along beside, taking him to an inn to stay the night. At the inn, the Samaritan continued to care for the man. When he left, he gave the innkeeper money to take care of the man and promised to pay the entire bill when he came back.
Helping the injured man cost the Samaritan time, riding a donkey and money. Yet, he did it out of compassion, which is part of love, isn’t it. Jesus then asked the lawyer a question of his own.
Luke 10:36-37 (ESV) Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Jesus changed the lawyers question to a more appropriate question that focused on the responsibility of the lawyer. Jesus asked, which of these three proved to be a neighbor to the injured man? Rather than trying to figure out who is his neighbor, he needed to consider if he was being a neighbor.
The lawyer answered, the one who showed mercy, the Samaritan. Jesus said to the lawyer, go and do likewise. In other words, have compassion on those in need around you and show them love. Your neighbor is anyone around you who has a need. That’s how to be a neighbor.
How do we be a neighbor and love our neighbors as ourselves today? First of all, we need to discard the thought that there are so many needs, we can’t possibly meet them all, so why try. In the story, there was a need and no one else to help. God will show you needs where you are the one He calls to help.
Ask for God to give you compassion for the needs of others around you. The need might be for physical healing. The need might be for spiritual healing. The need might be for resources to live and we could go on and on with different kinds of needs. Each of us has a responsibility for our families.
Yet, this story challenges us to go beyond our families and sometimes even the people we know. To actually show Christ’s love to strangers who God brings in our paths. As we give to missions, we are being a neighbor to lost people around the world. Making it possible for missionaries to be Jesus’ hands and feet to them through our giving. God wants to challenge us today to be neighbors to those in need.
To have eternal life, we must love God with everything we have and are. As we love God, He blesses us so that we can love our neighbor as ourselves. That observable compassion and caring of others is evidence we have eternal life. To love our neighbors as ourselves requires us to be neighbors to those in need.
Besides helping meet needs, our love opens the door for the Gospel. Meeting physical needs, either through natural resources or supernatural healing makes people more receptive to believing in Jesus. We see this throughout the ministry of Jesus and His disciples. As we show our love for the lost and their needs, more and more people will be saved and receive eternal life.