Devotion - Friday May 8 - Who Is My Neighbor?

Text: And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” - Luke 10:25–29 (ESV)

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 

Devotion: Jesus responds to the man’s question by telling the story of the Good Samaritan. This exposes the man’s heart. (Read Luke 10: 30-37)

The Lawyer, desiring to justify himself revealed the true position of his heart. “Who is my neighbor?” is an improper question - the lawyer was trying to exclude responsibility for others by making some people “non-neighbors.” 

Rather than walking away vindicated, self-assured that he had fulfilled the Law to love his neighbor as himself, Jesus revealed to him that he did not love his neighbor as the Scriptures required. Instead of seeing every individual the way our Lord did, the legal expert most likely wanted to choose whom he would or wouldn’t love. 

Through the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus illustrates that your neighbor is anyone that crosses your path.

Questions:

• How has this scripture shaped (or reshaped) your understanding of who your neighbor is?
• Based on this biblical understanding, how have you been behaving toward your neighbor during this pandemic?
• What would it look like for you to image Christ to your neighbor during this time?