Love One Another

Most of us know the parable of the good Samaritan. We know the story and we know it teaches us to do good to others. But it goes much deeper and is more serious than just being kind to one another. Within the story is a plethora of information that I think is often missed. The story is found in Luke chapter ten, verses 25 through 37. Those verses say the following:
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."
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. 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." 

To fully understand what Jesus is trying to convey we have to know the background of the rift between the Samaritans and Judean Jews. In approximately 740 BC the Assyrians conquered Northern Israel and took away many of the inhabitants. In their place Assyrians and others they had conquered moved in and the Northern Jews that stayed, as well as those taken captive, intermarried with the gentiles. They mixed their Jewish beliefs with pagan ones making an amalgam religion. After a number of years the Assyrians were exclusively practicing Judaism. However, as they were not truly Jewish they were not permitted to help in the rebuilding of the temple, which caused deep resentment. Assyrians built their own temple and believed they could sacrifice outside of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The Jews disagreed and both sides ended up despising each other. The dislike was so deep that Jews would cross the street rather than walk on the same side as a Samaritan.
It was with this knowledge that everyone around Jesus was listening to the parable. A priest and Levite, or Mosaic Lawyer, ignored the man in the ditch. These two men are part of the Jewish leadership. They were important men. People looked up to and deferred to them. When each one saw the man they both had the Purity Laws in mind. The man lay in the ditch, bleeding and dirty. He was "half dead". So looking across the road into the ditch they couldn't tell if the man were living or not. It was against Jewish Law to touch a dead body and if they did they would have to go through purity rites to get "clean" again. They would be unclean for 7 days and during that time they were treated as outcasts. It wasn't until they ceremonially purify themselves that they would be welcomed back into the society. The priest and Levite put the letter of the Law and their own comfort above the life of another human being's suffer. It was the Samaritan, the mixed race person that the "important" men looked down on with distain, that stopped to see if the man lying there was living and to give aid. He stopped, gave first aid, and then took the man to an inn and paid for him to be taken care of. The Samaritan paid for lodging, food, and to be looked after for an undetermined amount of time. However, as the Samaritan had to either walk or ride a donkey wherever he went we can be sure it was a matter of weeks, at least. We know that two denarii was spent, the equivalent of two days wages. That plus any other expenses incurred during the man's stay. A lot of money was spent.

What are we to learn from this passage? The point of the story, I believe, is that a person's life is more important that societal nicety laws, more important than our own comfort. Other passages within the bible support this. John 13:34 and 35 tells us we are commanded to love each other as Christ loves us. And if we do so we will be known by others as a follower of Christ. Matthew 22:37-40 says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. Christ then says there is another like it, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and that it's on these two commandments that all the Law and prophets depend. 1 Thessalonians 4:9, and 1 John 3:11 and 4:8 say the same thing. We are to love others as God has taught us, commanded us, and by doing so we show we are His. It is this message that the entire New Testament revolves and is built upon.
Think about that for a few moments. We are commanded to love others as ourselves. Now, that does not mean that if we don't like ourselves we treat others with that same dislike. God wants us to love others as He loves us. That is a perfect love. How well are you living out God's command? How often do you put others before yourself? We can always find some way to show love to others. It may be nothing more than a smile and kind word to someone. Other times, in order to show God's love, we have to get uncomfortable and dirty. Are you kind to those our society deems less than, looks at derogatorily? Do you do what you can to help those you come across who are hungry or have some other physical or material need? What about the immaterial needs a person has? Listen, when you can, to someone who needs to talk. Try to brighten the day of the customer service person, the cashier, wait staff, you come across. Those who work in the service industry have a very difficult job and are often treated abysmally by their customers. If you set your daily goal to do something to make the day better for each person you come across you will be well on your way to loving others as God wants us to.