Welcome back to another Advent thought from Luke’s gospel. Do you remember being a child at Christmas and poking at gifts under the tree, asking questions like, “Is this the Lego set I wanted?” or “Is there a doll or a truck in that box?”
Luke 10 is also full of questions. A man approaches Jesus and asks, “Who is my neighbor?” In response, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan and then asks a question of his own.
The parable of the Good Samaritan is found only in Luke’s gospel, not in the other accounts of Jesus’ life. Jesus tells us of a man traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho. Thieves attack the man and leave him for dead. Two religious leaders walk by, ignoring the man bleeding on the ground. But a despised Samaritan sees the man, stops, and offers help. Then Jesus asks his listener, “Which of the men in the story was a neighbor to the man set upon by thieves?”
The Samaritan in the story didn’t ask, “What will happen to me if I get involved?” Instead, he thought, “What will happen to this injured man if I don’t help?”
Jesus’ mother Mary asked questions too. When the angel told her she would bear God’s son, she asked, “But how is that possible?” Then, like the Samaritan, she chose to serve. What might have happened to us if she had chosen not to “get involved”?
Who is your neighbor? And like Fred Rogers, I ask you one more question, “Will you be my neighbor?”
