ears to hear (Q4)...?

[nHissvc]

Does the Lord place the onus on us to establish the "neighbor" relationship, upon opportunity, in the following scripture, and is that relationship to be limited to the body or fellow Christians?:


"But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." (Luke 10:29-37)

[Xenia]

No, it is not to be limited to the body of Christ only! It was the priest and the Levite who would consider a neighbor only one who was of their own religion, race or country. Quoting Gill again:

then said Jesus unto him, go and do thou likewise;
such like acts of beneficence and kindness, though to a person of a different nation and religion, and though even an enemy; and by so doing, thou wilt not only appear to be a good neighbour thyself, but to love thy neighbour as thyself.

[Laina]

It's interesting that the one who came to the rescue was a Samaritan whom the Jews hated.

[Lookin^Up]

The Samaritans were hated because they were "half-breed" Jews and Assyrians, which began in 2 Kings 17:5-41, and their religion was a half-breed, too. Jesus' answers to the Samaritan woman (John 4:4-30) shows His effort to unite them in one worship with the Jews--worship of Himself and His Father, not of some mountain.

In the parable called "The Good Samaritan," Jesus uses the Levite and the priest as the elitists of the day, while the Samaritan crossed racial lines and helped the man. Again, it was to show that God loves everyone, including the hated Samaritans; He was saying they were the Jews' "neighbor".