An expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, \u201cTeacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d<\/p>\n \t\u201cWhat is written in the law?\u201d He asked him. \u201cHow do you read it?\u201d<\/p>\n \tHe answered:<\/p>\n Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.<\/ext><\/p>\n \t\u201cYou\u2019ve answered correctly,\u201d He told him. \u201cDo this and you will live.\u201d<\/p>\n \tBut wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, \u201cAnd who is my neighbor?\u201d<\/p>\n \tJesus took up the question and said: \u201cA man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, \u2018Take care of him. When I come back I\u2019ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\u201cWhich of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?\u201d<\/p>\n \t\u201cThe one who showed mercy to him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \tThen Jesus told him, \u201cGo and do the same.\u201d (Luke 10:25\u201337)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \tJesus made religious people uncomfortable. A Bible scholar asked Jesus how to gain eternal life. Jesus told him the two commandments: \u201clove God\u201d and \u201clove your neighbor.\u201d But there were a lot of people the scholar didn\u2019t love and a lot of people the man believed didn\u2019t deserve to be loved. He wanted a definition for neighbor that would let him keep his hate. Jesus told him a story that let him know that wasn\u2019t possible.<\/p>\n \tToday, Jesus\u2019 story of the Good Samaritan doesn\u2019t make us as uncomfortable as it did that ancient Bible scholar. After all, what\u2019s a Samaritan? Samaritans were the result of marriages between Jews and the pagan idolaters who had moved into Palestine during the period of the Babylonian captivity. They were excluded from the Jewish temple and were despised as irredeemable sinners. An expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, \u201cTeacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d \u201cWhat is written in the law?\u201d He asked him. \u201cHow do you read it?\u201d He answered: Love the Lord your … Continue reading
\n\tIf Jesus were asked the same question today, perhaps his response might be to tell the story of how a preacher and a deacon ignored the victim in the gutter, in contrast to the homosexual who helped him. <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/plugins\/send-to-kindle\/media\/white-15.png\")
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