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Apr 14, 2026 06:00am

Walking Through Luke: The Good Samaritan

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Do you know your neighbors?

There was a time when that would have seemed like a silly question. When my parents, or their parents, grew up, knowing your neighbor was just the thing to do. Social media didn’t exist. Phones were attached to the wall, not carried in one’s pocket. If you wanted friends, you were probably going to get to know your neighbors. You’ve probably seen TV shows or movies where a family moves somewhere new, and their next-door neighbor brings a tray of cookies, a casserole dish, or something similar and welcomes them to the neighborhood.

It is a relevant question in today’s culture, though. I can honestly say that since my family moved to Arkansas in 2013, I have not gotten to know my neighbors in any of the places I have lived. Not in either house my parents lived in, not in the apartment I lived in with college buddies after I graduated, and not in any of the three places my wife and I have lived since we got married. Only recently has my wife started to become friends with another mom down the street, as her son and our daughter play together sometimes.

One Fourth of July, when my family lived in Kansas, my dad bought a small pack of fireworks. One of his friends from out of town was visiting, and we all went out into the street and shot off fireworks for a bit. While we were doing that, our next-door neighbor stepped out onto the porch and asked if we would mind stopping for the night because his kids were trying to sleep.

My dad went over to talk with him and apologize, and we put up the fireworks for the night. Because of that interaction, that man later brought his family to our church. Not long after that, he and my dad became best friends. In fact, he was even briefly the youth director at our church. My brothers and I became good friends with his sons, and my sister was born around the same time as their little sister about a year later.

After a while, his family left our church. He and my dad ultimately drifted apart with time and distance, but for a few years, they weren’t just neighbors—they were friends.

In Luke 10:25–37, a lawyer decided to test Jesus. When the New Testament talks about a “lawyer,” it is not referring to the modern kind of lawyer who defends a client in court. This was a religious scribe, someone who was an expert in the Law of Moses. He knew the ins and outs of the Old Testament, especially the Levitical laws—Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. A lawyer was someone who had all the answers. This particular lawyer, clearly proud of his own knowledge, wanted to see how much Jesus actually knew. Have you ever met someone like that—someone who thinks they know everything and quizzes you to see if you measure up?

His question was interesting: “What can I do to inherit eternal life?” A couple of things to note here: (1) There was a faction of lawyers, the Sadducees, who didn’t even believe there was eternal life, so this may have been a trick question; and (2) if he was a Pharisee and did believe in eternal life, his phrasing is notable. He asked, “What can I do?” This suggests he was expecting a performance-based answer. He wanted Jesus to list requirements so he could say, “Yes, I’ve done all that!”

Jesus turned the question back on him. He asked, “How do you read the Law?” The lawyer replied, “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 your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus told him that was correct—he should “do this, and you will live.”

Note that Jesus is not saying we must work for our salvation. “Do and live” is the promise of the Law. The problem is that no one can live up to it perfectly. Without stating it directly, Jesus was showing that if the lawyer wanted to earn eternal life, he would have to follow the Law perfectly for his entire life without ever making a mistake.

But the lawyer didn’t recognize that. Instead, he tried to justify himself: “Who is my neighbor?” In other words, he wanted to know who was worthy of being loved as himself. “How many people do I have to love like myself to earn eternal life? Is it just the people next to me? Just the people in my city? Maybe only the righteous who follow the law?”

Rather than answer directly, Jesus told a story—as He often did. This is a familiar story, but it would have been shocking to the lawyer. Jesus described a man traveling to Jerusalem who was attacked by thieves and left for dead. In the story, a priest and a Levite—both religious men—passed by without helping. These were men of God, yet they could not be bothered to help someone in need. Perhaps they feared becoming ceremonially unclean. Perhaps they feared the robbers were still nearby. Whatever the reason, they left him wounded and helpless.

Then, a Samaritan came along. His presence was significant for several reasons. First, he already risked danger. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem descended about 3,300 feet over 17 miles and was notorious for robberies. Second, Jewish people despised Samaritans, viewing them as racially and religiously impure.

Yet when the Samaritan saw the wounded man, he didn’t pass by. He stopped, cared for him, took him to an inn, and paid two days’ wages for his recovery. He even promised to cover any additional expenses.

Jesus ended the story with a powerful question: “Which of these men proved to be a neighbor?” The lawyer had to admit it was the one who showed mercy—though he couldn’t even say the word “Samaritan.”

This flipped the lawyer’s question completely. It was no longer about who qualifies as a neighbor. It became about whether we are being a neighbor.

Being a neighbor is not passive. It is not just about proximity. It is about action. We prove ourselves neighborly by showing love, compassion, and generosity to those around us.

The lawyer’s question was, “Who is worth loving?”
Jesus’ answer was, “You must love—and act—toward everyone, especially those in need.”

We don’t love only those who can repay us. We serve even those who cannot.

And in doing so, we become the kind of neighbor Jesus calls us to be.

“Go, and do likewise.”