This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s Message: Who Is My Neighbor? (WATCH HERE)
Luke 10:25–29 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 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.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
The lawyer who approached Jesus thought he was asking the right question. “Who is my neighbor?” It sounds like a reasonable question. Surely there must be some limit to our responsibility. Surely there must be a line that separates those we are called to love from those we are not.
But Jesus never answers the question the man asks. Instead, He tells a story that exposes something much deeper.
The lawyer wanted to justify himself. Jesus wanted to save him.
That difference is significant.
It is easy to hear the parable of the Good Samaritan and immediately think about what we should do. We should help people in need. We should be compassionate. We should love sacrificially. Those are all true conclusions, but they are not the first conclusion.
Before we see ourselves in the Samaritan, we must first see ourselves as the man lying helpless on the road.
Sin has left every one of us spiritually beaten, stripped, and unable to save ourselves. We were not simply wounded. We were dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). No amount of moral effort could heal us. No religious performance could restore us. Like the traveler, we were completely dependent on someone else’s mercy.
Then Jesus came.
He did not pass by. He did not avoid our brokenness. He entered it. He took our sin upon Himself, carried our guilt to the cross, and paid the debt we could never pay. Isaiah says, “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering” (Isaiah 53:4). Our Savior became the One who stopped, stooped, and saved.
Everything changes when we realize that we are first the recipients of mercy.
Think about a person rescued from a raging flood. They spend the rest of their lives grateful for the firefighter who carried them to safety. They never boast about rescuing themselves. They simply remember the one who did.
That is the Christian life.
Our acts of love do not earn God’s favor. They flow from hearts that have already received His grace. God’s people love because Christ first loved them.
When you know what it means to be rescued, you begin to see everyone else differently.
You no longer ask, “Who deserves my love?”
Instead, you thank God that He loved someone as undeserving as you…and then extend that love to others.
Reflect: How does seeing yourself as the one rescued by Christ change the way you read this parable? Is there someone difficult to love whom you can now view through the lens of the mercy Jesus has shown you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for finding me when I was helpless in my sin. You did not pass me by, but came to rescue me with Your perfect love and sacrifice. Fill my heart with gratitude for Your mercy, and let that mercy overflow into the way I love and serve those around me. Amen.