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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
And the people will oppress one another,
every one his fellow and every one his neighbor.
Isaiah 3:5a
(ESV)
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Recent headlines have revealed something troubling:
“Man sentenced for theft of neighbor's wallet”
“Man admits sexual assaults on neighbor”
“Family's dog dies after alleged bat-beating from neighbor”
“Man convicted of beating, killing neighbor”
“Two women convicted of defrauding 84-year-old neighbor”
What in the world is going on when
you can’t even trust your neighbor?
Perhaps it’s a sign of judgment
coming upon your community or city or nation.
As we continue looking at the third
chapter of Isaiah and the signs of judgment, we read these words:
And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every
one his neighbor. (v5)
Jerusalem and Judah were on the
brink of collapse at the hands of the Babylonians. Choosing to worship false
idols and, in doing so, turn from God, the Israelites of the southern kingdom
were going to suffer the consequences of their apostasy. They would lose supply
and support. Young inexperienced leaders would rise to power, reinforcing the
people’s evil ways instead of inspiring repentance and a turning from wicked,
sinful ways. And as we look at the third sign today, we see where neighbors
will turn on one another, oppressing one another in one way or another. It
happened in Old Testament days and as we have seen by the headlines, it is
happening today as neighbors commit every crime imaginable against the person
next door.
Is it any wonder that Jesus had
something to say to us about behavior toward our neighbors? Just as He did on
every other matter of life we’ll deal with, He left us guidance on this
subject. Look at His words from the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke:
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,”
he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will
live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my
neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,
when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and
went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same
road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a
Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But
a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he
took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and
wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took
care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you
for any extra expense you may have.’”
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell
into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10:25-37
In this extraordinary passage, we
find a man very well versed in the law of God asking about how to receive
eternal life. Jesus, interested in finding out what the man already knew and
possibly testing his validity as a teacher of law, asks him about how he
interpreted God’s words as they apply to eternal life. The man replied that the
law called for someone to love God wholeheartedly and then love their neighbor
as themselves in order to live forever, an answer that Jesus confirmed as
correct, directing the man to adopt that life attitude so he could live.
That probably should have been
enough but the man had a secondary question, one that would clarify what Jesus
called the second greatest commandment (Mark 12:28-31), to love your neighbor
as yourself.
The teacher of the law wanted to
know who would be considered a neighbor and to the people listening, they
probably thought the question was rather simple. Some may have wondered why he
would even waste Jesus’ time with such a question. I mean, everyone knew that
your neighbor was someone who lived either next to you or adjacent to you,
right?
Well, Jesus, as He did on so many
occasions (refer to His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount regarding murder
and adultery in Matthew 5) took a simple matter and expounded on it, throwing
out a larger net of conviction while providing clarity on the behavior He
expected from all those who placed their hope and trust in Him.
In the parable of the Good
Samaritan, Jesus tells of a man in need of help after a vicious attack by
robbers left him along the road, badly injured and in need of medical
attention. Three men come by, one at a time, the first two, the priest and
Levite being people you would expect would show compassion and concern enough
to help the man. But neither did, both passing on the other side of the road
from the man, ignoring contact and essentially leaving the man for dead. Either
could have had the chance to save him but both turned away from that
opportunity.
The third man was the man in the
story everyone would have expected to do what the priest and Levite had done,
pass by the injured man. The Samaritans were despised by Jewish culture as they
were Israelites who had intermarried with the Assyrians after the invasion and
destruction of the northern kingdom. Considered half-breeds, their name came
out of the place where they called home, the country of Samaria.
Well, as we so often see with
Jesus, the story didn’t quite go as people expected. For it was the Samaritan
who stopped and helped the man, treating and bandaging his wounds before taking
him to an inn, caring for him further, and then paying the innkeeper to watch
over him until he was well. It was this display of love and concern and
compassion and mercy, one person unto another, that shaped Jesus’ definition of
a neighbor.
In other words, everyone can be a
neighbor to another. We’re all in this thing called life together and need to
support and love each other unconditionally, just as God the Father and Jesus,
His Son, love us.
Turning away from God will unplug
us from this kind of love and lead to us abusing the neighbors we are to care
for, presenting yet another sign of God’s pending or current judgment. It’s
happened in the past and it’s happening today.
It’s time to get back to basics,
loving the Lord with all our heart and mind and soul and strength so, in turn,
we can love our neighbors the way God commands.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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