Who can you be a neighbour to?

Today's texts: Deuteronomy 30:9-14; Psalm 25:1-9; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37.



The parable of the “Good Samaritan” is one of the most famous of Jesus’ parables (Luke 10:25-37). We usually just focus on the parable itself and overlook the exchange between Jesus and the lawyer, but their conversation is an important part of the passage. The lawyer asks Jesus who his neighbour is, wondering who he is responsible to in order to fulfill God’s “love your neighbour” law. In reply Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan.

The lawyer had asked, “Who is my neighbour?” But when he’s done the story, Jesus asks the lawyer, “Which of these men do you think was a neighbour to the man in the ditch?”

Most of us come away from this story thinking that “my neighbour” is the guy in the ditch needing help. But Jesus’ question and the lawyer’s reluctant answer make it clear that the “my neighbour” in this story is actually the Samaritan. Jews in Jesus’ day did not associate with Samaritans. They considered them “unclean.” This parable is therefore quite scandalous.

The scandal of the story is not just that the “unclean” Samaritan obeys God, rather than the “righteous” Jews. What’s perhaps even more scandalous is that Jesus says the Samaritan is the Jewish lawyer’s neighbour and deserving of his love! And that this Jewish lawyer should do as the Samaritan did!

Who is your neighbour? Your neighbour is anyone you can be a neighbour to, anyone you come in contact with, whether it’s your friend, your enemy, a foreigner, or an outcast.

This week's readings: Genesis 18:1-10a; Psalm 15; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42.