Who Is My Neighbor?
Scripture for Today: June 18th, 2026
Luke 10:29 (NLT) “And who is my neighbor?”
To be fair, you must read Luke 10:25 -37 to fully understand the context. The question “and who is my neighbor?” came from a man who was an expert in religious law. He asked Jesus what he should do to earn eternal life. Jesus replied to him with a question, “What does the law of Moses say?” Jesus purposely asked a religious person about what was written in the law. But keep in mind that, beyond the original ten commandments, there were 600 additional laws among the Hebrew tribes that came from the Priests. Jesus was testing him to see which law he would choose. Fortunately, the religious man was right. He quoted a scripture from Deuteronomy 6:5. Jesus complimented him, saying he was correct and that, to continue doing so, he would live. But the religious expert didn’t know who would be considered his neighbor. Jesus immediately told a parable. Yes, the parable of the Good Samaritan.
If you don’t remember, Samaritans and Jews hated each other. They couldn’t stand being in the presence of each other and would go the extra distance to avoid encountering each other. If you don’t remember the full story, a Jewish man was attacked, beaten, and robbed. Two other Jewish men (a Priest and a Temple assistant) walked by the beaten man. But a Samaritan man saw the beaten Jewish man, helped him, bandaged him, took care of his wounds, and took him to an Inn and paid the expense for him to sleep there. When Jesus was done with the parable, He asked the religious law expert, “Which one of the three was a neighbor to the man who was attacked?” The religious law expert replied, “the one who showed mercy to the man who was attacked.” Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
The story is not about being a good person. It is about doing good for whoever is in need. Everyone is your neighbor, even your enemy. God doesn’t want you to be like the two previous Jewish men who quickly judged the attacked man as a street bum. Your neighbor is the one who has a need. The scripture says that when the Samaritan saw the man who had been attacked, he felt compassion for him and began to help him. (Luke 6:33) Compassion is the emotion that comes from God because it moves you to think of someone else other than yourself. Get your eyes off yourself, move with compassion, and help someone!
Be Blessed!
Ron
Ron Cobbs Ministries © Copyright June 18th, 2026, All Rights Reserved