Who is our neighbour?

https://odb.org/2026/06/26/whos-my-neighbor

Luke 10:30–37 (NIV): 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

When an expert in God’s law asked Jesus who his neighbor was (Luke 10:29)—that is, who he was obligated to show love to—Jesus told a story of a man badly beaten by robbers, lying near death by the side of the road (vv. 30-31). A priest and then a Levite approached, but both passed by on the other side. Finally, a Samaritan stopped to help. What made this so unusual was that Jews and Samaritans had a bitter history of scorn for each other. Yet it was the Samaritan who stopped and “took pity” on the man (v. 33). After telling this parable, Jesus asked which was a neighbor to the fallen man. The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him” (v. 37). Jesus told him, and us, “Go and do likewise.” (Alyson Kieda, Our Daily Bread 26th June 2026)

The question as to who is our neighbour is anchored on the all encompassing commandment of Jesus for us to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mark 12:31, Matthew 22:39). It is actually the embodiment of the second commandment in the Ten Commandments of Mosaic law (Exodus 20:6, Leviticus 19:18). It follows the first commandment – “You shall have no other gods besides Me” or it may be rephrased as “to love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul and mind”.

But the twist that Jesus introduced to Levitivus 19:18 – Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord – is to expand the notion of the neighbour, which Jesus also mentioned in Matthew 5:44 – “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus illustrates the point that despite deep-seated past and present hostilities between the Jews and the Samaritans, it was a Samaritan who helped the badly injured Jew and paid for his recovery at an inn. It speaks of us as believers the need to treat every other human as another human being and not to be prejudiced by skin colour, race or creed. It is of course easier said than done in real life perhaps due to the racism and discriminatory injustice we ourselves face in life. I guess helping another person is easier but not to hold a grudge or have feelings of hatred is tougher and possibly as tough as to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.

However, one way to overcome our own grudges, hatred and prejudices is to apply Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 6:12 – ” For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against.” It is the spiritual forces behind the enemies of our faith that we are fighting. Not the ones in flesh and blood. So we pray for their spiritual well-being although they may habour hatred towards us. We pray against the spiritual forces behind them.

Indeed the expectation by Jesus on us is sky high. The Old Testament was somewhat Jewish nation centric. The commandment is not to hate or hold a grudge against those in the nation or community. Jesus however expanded that to be all-inclusive covering everyone else. Translated it doesn’t mean we only love those in our family or church but everyone else including those power obsessed politicians saying all those terrible things!