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how does this parable connect with or challenge the old testament command to 'love your neighbor as yourself'?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Luke 10:29-37

But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend more, I will repay you when I return.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?” He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

This passage is part of Jesus's teachings in the Gospel of Luke. It follows a lawyer's question about how to inherit eternal life, to which Jesus responds by asking the lawyer to identify the greatest commandments. When the lawyer correctly quotes the command to love God and love neighbor, he then asks Jesus to define 'neighbor.'

What does this parable suggest about where our responsibilities begin and end when we encounter suffering?

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Read alongside it

  • Leviticus 19:18

    This is the Old Testament command to 'love your neighbor as yourself' that the lawyer was asking about.

  • Matthew 25:31-46

    Jesus's teaching on caring for 'the least of these' offers another perspective on who counts as our responsibility.

  • James 2:14-17

    This passage emphasizes that faith without actions, especially acts of mercy and care, is incomplete.

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