Loving Your Neighbour in a Divided World
May 30, 2026·7 min read
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
Luke 10:36
A lawyer asked Jesus a question designed to limit his obligations: 'And who is my neighbour?'
The scandal of the Samaritan
Jews and Samaritans despised each other. The animosity was centuries deep — religious, ethnic, political. When Jesus made the hero of his story a Samaritan, his audience would have flinched.
Love that crosses the road
The Samaritan did not help from a distance. He crossed the road. He touched the wounded man. He used his own oil and wine, put the man on his own animal, paid for his care.
Who is my neighbour today?
Jesus turned the lawyer's question around: not 'who is my neighbour?' but 'to whom will I be a neighbour?'
"Go and do likewise."
Luke 10:37