Greg Kiel
As recorded in the Gospel of Luke 10:25–37, a Jewish lawyer approached Jesus with a foundational, spiritual question, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded to the man asking and received an accurate response from the legal expert to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” But, the second question he asked was intriguing: “Who is my neighbor?”
Why would someone trained in the law need to ask such a basic question? The text tells us that he asked this in order to justify himself. In other words, he likely believed he was already obeying God’s law and was looking for affirmation. In that time, the word “neighbor” was often understood in a limited way, referring to people within one’s own community or group. By limiting the definition of “neighbor,” it became easier to feel that he had fulfilled the command to love others.
Jesus responded with the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. In the story, an injured man is found lying on the side of the road as others pass by. Two religious leaders go about their way without offering any assistance. Then, an unexpected traveler enters the scene and produces an entirely different outcome. A Samaritan expresses compassion in demonstrating righteousness. Why was this an unexpected result to the Jews?
Samaritans descended from the Israelites who had intermarried with other nations after the Assyrian conquest. Because of this, many Jews considered them ethnically and religiously impure. On top of this, there was a long history of conflict, distrust, and even hatred between the Jews and Samaritans. As a result, many Jews avoided contact with Samaritans altogether, even choosing longer routes to avoid traveling through Samaria.
The contrast is powerful. Those expected to help did nothing. The one least expected to help showed mercy.
The failure of the Levite and priest was not due to lack of knowledge, but a lack of compassion. It reveals how easy it is to become indifferent, to go through the motions of religion, missing truth and sincerity from the heart.
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).
The teachings of Jesus consistently point to love; love that is selfless, generous, forgiving, and compassionate. The Good Samaritan shows us what that love looks like in action. It is a love that can be inconvenient, costly, and uncomfortable.
It’s so easy for us to be guilty of allowing those in our society to negatively influence us with their indifference and unkindness; for not recognizing lost souls that need a Savior; having good intentions without a commitment to act upon them. Living like the Good Samaritan means choosing compassion, taking action, and genuinely caring for those all around us. “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
In many ways, that simple invitation, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” echoes the same call Jesus gives: not just to define who our neighbor is
