Jesus does not answer the question put to him. The expert in the OT Law asks: “Who is my neighbour?”, but Jesus doesn’t answer that.
Instead, Jesus responds with the Parable of the Good Samaritan and then asks who had been a neighbour to the man left for dead. There that is the right question to be asking!
This expert reluctantly replies ‘The one who had mercy on him’. Bingo! And there is the right answer. To which Jesus instructs him to go and do likewise. Well not just this man, Jesus wants all of us to go show mercy as God has shown it to us.
Over the next several weeks we are going to explore what it means to be a neighbour. What does it mean to be committed to the true good of another?
Does that sound overwhelming? Let me know your questions in the comments section of this blog and we will fold them in to our discussion of Being a Neighbour.