Daily Devotion, February 2, 2022

 

Devotion:

Read Luke 10:25-37.

Earlier in Luke 10, Jesus commissioned and sent out seventy-two others to heal the sick and to tell them, “The kingdom of God is near you.” They return with joy and tell the stories of their experiences. Jesus, full of joy, praises God for hiding things from the “wise and learned” and revealing them to little children.

Luke then illustrates this irony with the story of the lawyer’s question and Jesus’ response. The lawyer “knows” the factual answer to his own question, but the eyes of his heart are blind to the full understanding of Jesus’ answer. Jesus affirms the core of the Old Testament Law, and helps this lawyer understand it is a way of life.

Jesus’ response is the familiar story we know as “The Good Samaritan,” which is simple and sometimes children understand better than adults. But through the years, we find more and more surprises in Jesus’ simple story.



The main surprise is the unlikely hero is from Samaria! Samaritans were severely disliked, even considered enemies by the people of Israel. Not only did the compassionate Samaritan stop and help, but he transported the man to a place where he would be safe and receive care. The compassionate Samaritan even returned the next day to pay for any costs the care would incur.

Rev. Dr. Peter Rhea Jones commented that another surprise is that the man by the side of the road also had to “receive the help” from the Samaritan. It is difficult to receive help from individuals we consider to be our “enemies.”

Now the lawyer knew the law included “love neighbor as self,” but he was testing Jesus about the detail of “neighbor.” The lawyer admitted that Jesus’ story illustrated easily that the Samaritan was “the neighbor.” By answering this, he began realizing Jesus’ call to demonstrate compassion to others, and also, he had to hear clearly Jesus’ surprising call to love this people group as much as one loves self! This created a vast U-turn for this lawyer who had justified limiting the word, “neighbor” for people who were like him.

Personal Worship Option:

Lord, too often, we limit the word, “neighbor”. And too often, we get caught up doing “good” for others and forget to “love others as self” which includes unlikely “neighbors” nearby and far away. Open our hearts to “see” and love the people of the world. Amen.