#108. Neighbours
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” What a great question; and we should all be asking it! Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and Love your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus replied, “You have answered correctly, Do this and you will live.” But the expert wouldn’t let it drop and asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” So Jesus decided to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan to show who his neighbour was, and how he could love his neighbour.
The first great commandment is to love God. We speak a lot about loving God. We sing hymns and songs to Him. We praise Him. We offer Him the devotion of our heart in prayers and obedience. But how do we know we really love Him? And how do we show our love for Him? The answer is in the second great commandment: by loving our neighbour. It is impossible to love God without loving our neighbour, and we show we love God by loving our neighbour. This is what we disciples are learning to do.
In every kind of love there is an aspect of self-denial. And loving our neighbour means we will sometimes go without something for their sake. We may even decide to go without something we can legitimately do because we want to show love to our neighbour. The Corinthian Church, a very troublesome church, said to the Apostle Paul, “I have the right to do anything”. Paul replied “But not everything is beneficial.” They insisted, “I have the right to do anything.” Paul replied “But not everything is constructive.”
Loving our neighbour means we will do the things that are beneficial and constructive for them, even if we have to go without what we can rightfully do or have for ourselves.
Back to the expert in the law and Jesus. After the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus asked the expert: “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” This is also what we disciples are learning to do.
How am I, and how are you, going to do what is beneficial, constructive and merciful to our neighbour this week? This is part of being a learning disciple. And it flings open the door to share the gospel of Jesus with your neighbour.
Love from your fellow disciple,
Paul
Luke 10v25-37
1 Corinthians 10v23,24