SEPTEMBER 2024

​Dear Church,

Let us go and do likewise
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus,
’And who is my neighbour?’    Luke 10:29
 
The Good Samaritan is a familiar parable that would be often quoted within Christendom. It is also a well-known story often mentioned by our other faith and no faith friends in their colloquial conversations. The law expert who met Jesus raised two important questions:

What should I do to inherit eternal life? It is a question about salvation. Christian believers know the answer from John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jesus responded to his question by asking a question back to him - What is written in the Law and How do you read it? This is Jesus’ way of conversing with people. The law expert answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’. He knows the answer. Knowing God is essential, but our understanding of God will only be completed by doing what we have read. This law expert is self-righteous. Jesus drew answers from him to authenticate that inheritance to eternal life is possible only by God’s righteousness and not by self-righteousness as it has been found in the Priest and Levite in the Good Samaritan story. The law expert ends his answer by saying, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ from Leviticus 19. This chapter is about ethical, moral, and social laws which also includes how to treat neighbours, especially the foreigners.

Although he recalled and recited the two commandments in a nutshell, it is so unfortunate to hear from him the second question, Who is my neighbour? This story is the mergence of both spiritual and social genres. It is like the cross, Jesus came down from heaven to earth to offer us salvation – the vertical bar; Jesus reaching to the society – the horizontal bar. Christianity comprises both. Therefore, the good news is, Christ came down to earth and offered his life for many. In the story, we read that a ‘certain’ man fell into the hands of robbers. It is not said, whether he was a Jew or a Samaritan. In those days, there was social discrimination between these communities. Christ is breaking such boundaries by lifting the Samaritan as the good Samaritan. Also, you could be religious like the Priest or the Levite, but if you are not attending the need, you are not being a neighbour and you are not fulfilling the purpose of your calling.

​God Bless,
Amutha