live."
Then, following up, the lawyer asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus responded by giving the parable of the Good Samaritan, which shows that everyone is your neighbor. The Samaritans and the Jews did not like each other very much. They lived apart and did not consider themselves to be neighbors. So by using this parable as His example, Jesus teaches us that everyone is our neighbor. Therefore, "Love your neighbor as yourself" means "Love all people as yourself," since everyone is our neighbor. Nobody is excluded.
LUKE 10:29-37 (RSV)
[29] But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my
neighbor?"
he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed,
leaving him half dead.
[31] Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw
him he passed by on the other side.
[32] So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed
by on the other side.
[33] But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he
saw him, he had compassion,
[34] and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine;
then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took
care of him.
[35] 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.'
[36] Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who
fell among the robbers?"
[37] He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him,
"Go and do likewise."
And what is the best way to express our love for God? Is it by worshiping Him continuously? Or by praying constantly? Or by acts of fasting and self-sacrifice? Or by following every rule He ever set forth in the Bible, every Commandment?
NO! The best way to express our love for God is by loving other people. This is what He really wants from us. This is what He means when he says, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." (Matthew 9:13, 12:7) The Bible says that God accepts our love for others as if it were love for Himself. This is shown in the Parable Of The Sheep And The Goats, below, where God says, "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."
MATTHEW 25:31-46 (RSV) - The Sheep And The Goats
[31] "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
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