The Good Samaritan

A man once asked Jesus, “What should I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus replied, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

But because he wished to justify himself in front of his social media  followers, he said to Jesus,

“Who exactly is my neighbor?” 

Jesus replied,

“A black man fell victim to vigilantes as he drove home from his minimum wage job after dark one night. They stripped and beat him and left him for dead. 

A businessman happened to be driving behind him down that road. When he saw him, he pulled out his phone and tweeted, “#AllLivesMatter,” and continued on his way. 

Likewise a young woman drove past the scene, and turned to her friend saying, “He should have complied.” Nodding, her friend continued, “He shouldn’t have been working late, he shouldn’t have been poor, and he shouldn’t have been black.” 

But a homeless man, perhaps knowing what it felt like to be left behind, abused, unwanted, hated and unloved, came upon him and was moved with compassion. 

He approached the victim, held his head and sang him songs. 

And then he did the most important act of all – he believed the young man when he said that he was in pain. He listened when he said he was hurting. 

“Which of these three,” Jesus asked  “in your opinion, was neighbor to the vigilantes’ victim?” 

He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” 

Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise. Even if it is inconvenient, do likewise. Whether or not you want to, do likewise. Even if it makes you somewhat uncomfortable, challenges your beliefs, and takes the better part of your day – do likewise.”