Who is my neighbor?

[Wade]

If we are to be like the Samaritan...
Then I don't get the slightest impressing he was even concerned with who his neighbor was. Rather he recognized a person who had a need that was within his proximity and capability of aiding and did so. God is not a respector of persons and neither was the Samaritan.

[Wade]

If we are to be like the Samaritan...
Then I don't get the slightest impression he was even concerned with who his neighbor was. Rather he recognized a person who had a need that was within his proximity and capability of aiding and did so. God is not a respector of persons and neither was the Samaritan.

And where does this take into account the thoughts about our brother?

If we are living in true Christian community with other brothers and sisters in Christ then naturally they will be the ones in the closest proximity to us in helping first.
However, if we could talk with the Levite and the Priest - this may have been their excuse for not helping; that they were on the way to aid a true brother or sister.
There are a few examples in scripture of Christ going to help someone like Lazarus but because he was caught up in helping others he took too long...
So who has God placed right in front of us to help but we are rather looking to our own plans?

[Robert]

Some of those questions are better answered from other verses. This is just one parable spoken to a person for a reason.

[Wade]

Some of those questions are better answered from other verses. This is just one parable spoken to a person for a reason.

Now I would love to open things up to additional scripture that comes to mind and helps us understand or expand on the core idea. This can help us in ways, but we also have to remember that the ones hearing it only know the Torah. There was no NT written. Much of it had not even been spoken. We have to be careful not to take the text further than its purpose, but we can blend it with other text to develop a fuller picture of Jesus' teachings and vision for us.

Sorry for being a bother...

[lesterb]

The scribe asked "who is my neighbor" to justify himself. Jesus told him this story so that he could answer his own question. The answer will vary from time to time. The people we bump into all have the potential to become our neighbor. It might be the woman with a flat tire. It might be the hitchhiker. It might be the person we talk to at the grocery store.

My wife loves to talk with mothers with little children. Especially Muslim, Hindu, or similar families who might feel a bit ostracized. Almost invariably she gets a good response. One mother had two very cute little boys in her cart and she talked to them and to her. The little boy gave her a grin and said something. The woman really brightened up and told us that this meant Grandmother in their native language. We didn't talk long, but when ever we met in the store aisles that day, they were very friendly and the little boy would call her "grandmother." So that was our neighbor that day. We didn't talk about Jesus, but I hope that we opened the door for them by showing them that Mennonite people are approachable. Someday they may be looking for that help and will free to ask someone because of our little contact.

Some of these subjects get destroyed by being over-analyzed. Just walk with God and listen to his still small voice. You'll be amazed at the number of people you will run across that you can treat like a neighbor and brighten their day. It might be a refugee family or it might be the teenager next door.

[Robert]

Sorry for being a bother...

You were no bother. Just responding to your statement. I actually liked your questions. Sorry if it sounded dry. Was running on 2 hours sleep today.

[PeterG]

It's interesting that in Matt. 5 Jesus seems to acknowledge the distinction between neighbors and enemies, much like Wayne is saying.

[bible]Matthew 5,43[/bible]

But then he challenges the distinction—

[bible]Matthew 5,44-48[/bible]

And I am not disputing that. I suppose I'm trying to draw a distinction between the concept of a "universal brotherhood of man" and the Kingdom of God.

Fair enough. Like Chesterton says, the vices of our age are Christian virtues gone mad.

Without being beat up on by the political progressives in tis discussion group.

If I didn't know you better, based on most of your neighbor-related posts I'd think you were coming from something like a Reformed perspective that views New Testament teaching very differently than I do. Now that you've opened the can of worms, perhaps you can explain yourself more thoroughly. This might even keep the progressives at bay.

Robert, my apologies if I'm getting your thread off track. Feel free to bump this somewhere else.

[Robert]

Robert, my apologies if I'm getting your thread off track. Feel free to bump this somewhere else.

I opened it up to additional scriptures now to explore the text and gain a better understanding of "who is my neighbor."

I think we drilled down well and we can do some wondering now without loosing the core.

[Bootstrap]

Robert, my apologies if I'm getting your thread off track. Feel free to bump this somewhere else.

I opened it up to additional scriptures now to explore the text and gain a better understanding of "who is my neighbor."

I think that was the question the "expert in the law" asked to justify himself. And it's the question Jesus never answered, he substituted his own question - "Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?"

I think we drilled down well and we can do some wondering now without loosing the core.

If we go looking for good answers to the question Jesus rejected, we just might miss the point of the parable entirely.

[lesterb]

Robert, my apologies if I'm getting your thread off track. Feel free to bump this somewhere else.

I opened it up to additional scriptures now to explore the text and gain a better understanding of "who is my neighbor."

I think we drilled down well and we can do some wondering now without loosing the core.

It was a good thread while it lasted. But we're overthinking it now.

It is all so simple if we just follow Jesus' instructions -- go and do likewise. But if we have to sort out all the theology and the political allusions, and the possibilities for false doctrine, we totally lose sight of it.

That is one thing that made Anabaptism unique in its time and still should. They learned to read so that they could see what Jesus did and said. They took these things at face value and did them.

Jesus said, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. So that is what they did. And that is what we will do if we have Christ in our hearts.