“Who is my neighbor?”
This question, posed to Jesus by one of the experts in the Law, sparked one of the most famous parables in all of Scripture: a story in which a bruised and bloodied man is left to die in the middle of a busy road, until he is finally rescued by the Good Samaritan. In this parable, Jesus wildly expands our definition of neighbor. It’s a challenge that invites audiences in both Jesus’ day and ours to see everyone—whether they sit across our dinner table or across our world—as a person of inherent value and dignity. Jesus is calling us to “cross the street” and sacrificially serve those in need.
Jesus’ parable challenges our stunted understanding of who our neighbors actually are and how we should treat them. But what might this story tell us about who we are?
Who do we identify with in this story? Do we see ourselves as the Good Samaritan, valiantly sacrificing our time and resources to help? Or do we identify with the Priest and Levite, who took special pains to keep as much sanitized distance as possible from the man moaning for mercy? Do we find glimpses of ourselves in the hero or do we see ourselves in the ones who looked and walked away?
Increasingly, I find myself identifying more with the one who is not the hero—in this story and so many others. When I read Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, I sense the invitation to reject the impulse to conjure up a list of people I believe need to hear them and understand instead that I am one who needs this message to sink deep into my bones. Identifying with the people who have much to learn not only feels far more accurate, but it also allows me to begin to see the blind spots in my life that desperately need a Jesus-realignment. It allows a loving rebuke to alter my smug self-righteousness and to replace religiosity with love. Unflinching honesty with myself, with Jesus, and with others creates space for Jesus to make me the person I don’t just want to look like but genuinely want to BE.
Instead of inserting ourselves in the place of the Savior, what if we read Scripture from the perspective of the person who needs the Savior? To find ourselves in the grumbling Israelite, the self-righteous Pharisee, or the bumbling disciple getting it wrong again. The beauty is that when we realize our desperate need for rescue, we’re able to more fully see our Rescuer. We can see where callousness has blinded us from seeing the opportunities God is placing in front of us to extend His rescue to others.
It’s only after we confront the ease with which we so often “pass by on the other side” that we can humbly ask God for the courage to cross the street and “go and do likewise.” May God give us grace to see the people we are, so that He might make us the people we are invited to be.
January 31, 2020
Thanks Peter. I think the one we need to identify with first is not those three who walked along the street but the one was beaten, robbed, and left half dead. If we first realize that this person- broken, lost, and hurting- is who we were before Jesus came to us then we more readily are willing to be the Good Samaritan to others. If we forget this then we not only lack the motivation and passion to help others out, we tend to have pride in our hearts even when we do it. It’s always a hallmark of ministry that we are simply doing for others what Christ did for us. We were the one left in the ditch helped out by the Good Samaritan named Jesus. We will do the same for others.
February 14, 2020
So true, Andrew! Great perspective.