.jpg)
The Good Samaritan (2 of 3)
Series: Luke
D. Marion Clark
Luke 10:30-37
Introduction
After more than thirty years of reading, teaching, and preaching Scripture, it becomes difficult to recall each time a particular Scripture passage is read. But I remember well one reading of the parable of the Good Samaritan. On September 11, 2011, representatives of various faiths in Center City Philadelphia were invited to read from their sacred writings and offer up prayer in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11. We gathered in Rittenhouse Square. I invited a church member - an Iranian Christian - to read this parable, which I then followed with prayer. Is there a better passage that presents the Christian perspective for how any of us are to live with and treat our neighbors, whoever they may be and wherever they may live?
Text
The lesson of the Good Samaritan is clear - we are to regard everyone as our neighbor and treat them accordingly. The lawyer - a religious scholar of the Jewish Scriptures - had asked Jesus, ''Who is my neighbor?'' Jesus then tells this straightforward parable. Only, it is not so straightforward as it first seems. The lawyer asked a specific question looking for a specific answer. Jesus responds in such a way that answers the question but also makes some points that the lawyer had not considered.
The point most clearly made is that the lawyer asked his question from the wrong perspective. He asked, ''Who is my neighbor?'' Who qualified to be his neighbor? By his own question at the end, Jesus makes the point that we are not to ask who is our neighbor but to whom will we be a neighbor. Look at verse 36: ''Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?''
This is classic Jesus - forcing us to look at our own hearts rather than everyone else's. He wants us to be more concerned with logs in our own eyes than with specks in the eyes of others. He wants to know what we believ ...
Series: Luke
D. Marion Clark
Luke 10:30-37
Introduction
After more than thirty years of reading, teaching, and preaching Scripture, it becomes difficult to recall each time a particular Scripture passage is read. But I remember well one reading of the parable of the Good Samaritan. On September 11, 2011, representatives of various faiths in Center City Philadelphia were invited to read from their sacred writings and offer up prayer in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11. We gathered in Rittenhouse Square. I invited a church member - an Iranian Christian - to read this parable, which I then followed with prayer. Is there a better passage that presents the Christian perspective for how any of us are to live with and treat our neighbors, whoever they may be and wherever they may live?
Text
The lesson of the Good Samaritan is clear - we are to regard everyone as our neighbor and treat them accordingly. The lawyer - a religious scholar of the Jewish Scriptures - had asked Jesus, ''Who is my neighbor?'' Jesus then tells this straightforward parable. Only, it is not so straightforward as it first seems. The lawyer asked a specific question looking for a specific answer. Jesus responds in such a way that answers the question but also makes some points that the lawyer had not considered.
The point most clearly made is that the lawyer asked his question from the wrong perspective. He asked, ''Who is my neighbor?'' Who qualified to be his neighbor? By his own question at the end, Jesus makes the point that we are not to ask who is our neighbor but to whom will we be a neighbor. Look at verse 36: ''Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?''
This is classic Jesus - forcing us to look at our own hearts rather than everyone else's. He wants us to be more concerned with logs in our own eyes than with specks in the eyes of others. He wants to know what we believ ...
There are 13714 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
