Where In The Bible Will I Find:

Who Is My Neighbor?

A Jewish lawyer, that means either a teacher, scribe, or both, came to Jesus and asked Him which was the great commandment. "...Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matt. 22:36-39). The lawyer then asked the question, "Who is my neighbor" Jesus replied with a story, which we usually call "The Good Samaritan." A man was beaten up, robbed and left half‑dead. A priest came, saw him and passed by. A Levite came, saw him and passed by. A Samaritan, a man despised by the Jews because of his race and his religion, stopped to help the unfortunate man. Jesus asked, "Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers" (Luke 16:36).

The lawyer was forced to answer, "He that showed mercy on him." Jesus replied, "Go, and do thou likewise." The "legalist" may claim that only one who helps me is my neighbor, But "neighbor" is a two-way relationship. Anyone to whom I am a neighbor is also a neighbor to me! If he is my neighbor, then I am his neighbor. Even the hypocritical Jewish lawyer got the point of the story that Jesus told. Everyone is my neighbor - regardless of race, position, geographical location, education, color of skin or anything else. The apostle Paul explained it well when he wrote, "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise" (Rom. 1:14). These, and everyone else in the world, were Paul's "neighbor" as per the story Jesus told. Jesus told the Pharisees once, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Matt. 23:23).

Too many people are so busy "splitting hairs" over what God requires them to do that they miss entirely the spirit of Christ. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). This indicates that we need the attitude which He constantly displayed. Jesus had little time for those who were always trying to split hairs and force others to pay the consequences. He spent His time with those who were hurting; the host, the lone, the sick, the unfortunate. Let's quit tearing up the church with our hair-splitting attitude and lovingly follow the example of Jesus and walk with the spirit He constantly displayed.