05/06/2026
When Jesus is asked by a lawyer how he might inherit eternal life, he agrees with the man that the law says to love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. This prompts the lawyer to ask him, “who is my neighbor”. Jesus then proceeds to tell the story about the Good Samaritan.
We find this story in Luke 10:25-37. At the end of the story in verses 36-37 is the challenge for us today. “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? He said, the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, “you go and do likewise”.
I was reminded of this story on Monday when someone dear to me was stranded beside the road in a rural area with a broken-down car and nobody close by to help. I felt pretty helpless because I couldn’t do much from a distance. Here is what happened:
• A stranger stops and although he doesn’t know how to fix the car, offers to take him to a restaurant, buys him food and says, “I’m working close to here, let me know when you need a ride back to your car”.
• There is a Mennonite church not far from there and a Christian brother from that church who has a truck, tows him to the repair shop of another brother in the church where they repair the car.
• The repair takes longer than a day and so another couple from the church offers him a bed for the night, along with supper and breakfast the next morning.
This is an amazing, modern-day example of Jesus’ story! “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man with the broken-down car”? Let’s look for opportunities to do the same. This is how we live out our faith. This is how we honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is how the community of believers ought to treat each other. I’m glad to be a Christan.
Blessings,
Phil
