On Valentine’s Day, we tend to think about love… Jesus talked about love quite a bit, and his definition of love was different than ours, wasn’t it? Jesus describes how love is a verb, and how we are supposed to demonstrate the action of love towards people that we may not typically want to love.
Life group Discussion Questions below!
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What is a great way you like to be shown love?
What is a way you like to practice showing love to others?
Who is it hard to show love to? Why?
The Good Samaritan
Most likely, we are all familiar with Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan. It really is a story that sort of shines a unique light on our ability to love each other.
“A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
Luke 10:30-37
Yeah, that story is familiar… I think the real key to the story, however, comes when we understand how it came about…
Jesus tells this memorable parable when a religious man asked a question about inheriting eternal life. Jesus, as he often did, flipped the question back on this man, who was an “expert in the law.” Of course, this man understood the spirit of the law, and his response was good.
“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
Like us, this man KNEW what God wanted him to do. We can say repeat it easily. But in a very insightful sentence, Luke tells us that “The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?‘” (Luke 10:29)
Even though we KNOW what God wants for us, don’t we justify? Don’t we evade? Don’t we have reasons why NOT to love certain people? Why is this?
This man would have been deeply offended at Jesus’ story.. Jesus points to a Samaritan as the one who honored God and reflected his love better than the good Jewish people. For us today, the parable of the “Good Samaritan” would be told as the parable of the”Good Socialist,” or the “Good illegal Guatemalan,” or the “Good Muslim.”
This is a story about someone crossing religious, cultural, and social protocols to sacrificially love another. How does that strike you? What does that say about the way we are to love others?
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.
-Jesus, Matthew 5:43-48
What needs to change about the way I show love?
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
-Jesus, John 15:13-14