“Love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s the Golden Rule. We teach it to kids. We quote it in books. If you asked the majority of our secular culture about it, they would say they’ve definitely heard it before.
They may not know, it’s a quote straight from Jesus Himself… and, when Jesus said it, he was actually quoting the book of Leviticus, one of the five books of the Jewish Torah.
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. ~ Leviticus 19:18
This Greek word, “love”, is not so much a word of emotion or feeling; rather, this word, “love”, is a word of action. It’s about the choices we make. It’s not just some snuggly, cuddly, Valentine’s Day card love.
If we look around at the happenings of the world today – the violence, the anger, the grudge-holding, the pain – we can see that humanity is not automatically programmed to love one another well. Truly, since Genesis 3, it’s simply not in our nature to choose love.
In fact, earlier in Matthew, Jesus says, “…out of the heart come evil thoughts, lying, slander, sexual immorality, and wickedness…” Yikes. (Matthew 15:18-19) Human nature is a sinful nature. We don’t automatically feel compelled towards loving others well; but…
…we can choose love.
We won’t choose it perfectly, but we will do the best we can when our hearts are turned towards Him.
The best way to figure out what “love your neighbor” looks like is to look at the actions of the one who said it. That would be Jesus… and the LORD God before him.
How did Jesus love people? … How did he choose to treat the people in front of him each day? … What did his love really look like? We have his words. What were his actions?
Here are three tangible ways that Jesus chose to love his neighbor:
1. Jesus paused for people.
In Luke 18:35-43, we see Jesus approaching Jericho. He is on his way to Jerusalem in order to celebrate Passover and, little do his followers know, this trip will also find him arrested, flogged, and crucified. The clock is ticking…
Sitting by the roadside, begging, is a blind man. The Gospel of Mark calls him Bartimaeus. Upon hearing that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, is passing by, this blind man begins crying out. “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus is on a mission. His time is counting down. He and his followers have probably been walking for awhile. The crowd is heavy. Their feet are tired; and, no doubt, Jesus’ human mind is filled with the enormity of the task that lies before him in Jerusalem.
Anybody would feel quite justified in simply pushing the shouts of this blind, begging, outcast out of his or her mind, in order to keep walking. In the last hour of a ten-hour road trip, it’s a very human thing to think, “No pit stops. No bathroom breaks. Let’s just get there.”
And yet…
“Jesus stopped…”
He stopped for this guy. Though the crowd wanted this blind beggar to be quiet… Though this blind beggar was a frustration to the community… Though Jesus didn’t need to make the time… Jesus stopped for him.
Jesus paused for him… looked at him… spoke to him… healed him.
Jesus didn’t have to stop. He had definitely healed enough people in his last three years of ministry to prove who he was to the crowd that followed. And yet, he chose to.
Whether it is our child… our spouse… our coworker… a friend… a stranger… or our literal neighbor down the street…
We love people well when we are willing to stop for them.
When we are willing to pause our lives and put our own “stuff” on hold… When we take the time to turn towards… look at… speak to… that person in front of us, we are loving them in the way of Jesus. In those actions, we are silently saying to that other person, “You matter more. You matter more than… my plans… my phone… my tv show… my agenda.” You matter more.
2. Jesus was impartial towards people
A few of the Gospels record a time when Jesus was invited to eat dinner at the home of a Pharisee. Eating dinner at the home of a Pharisee was a big ‘to-do’. It was a fancy dinner with all the ‘big wigs’, and it was definitely an invitation-only affair.
During the party, a woman showed up. Scripture says she was well-known in the town for living a “sinful life” (which could have meant a long list of things compared to the Pharisees’ rigid, legalistic lifestyle).
From the time of her arrival, things got awkward. She poured very expensive perfume (certainly, the most prized possession she owned) all over Jesus’ feet. She wept over him. She wiped his feet with her hair… and her tears.
All of this in the midst of dinner.
No doubt, it was awkward.
And, in their awkwardness, the other guests at the dinner party began to whisper about her, criticize her, judge her in their own minds… and Jesus knew it.
Jesus could have taken her outside to speak to her. He could have dismissed her act. He could have asked her to delay it for another time. He could have hurried her along. He could have, somehow, diffused the awkwardness… but, he didn’t.
Instead, he honored her action in front of everyone present. He uplifted her. He encouraged her. He appreciated her. In that moment, he did not fall into the favoritism of the Pharisees. In that moment, he loved her well.
We love people well when we steer clear of favoritism.
Jesus ate at the houses of Pharisees and he ate at the houses of tax collectors.
Jesus cared as much about the very wealthy Zacchaeus as he did about the outcast woman caught in adultery.
Jesus healed the upper-class Roman Centurion’s servant, and he healed the leper that no one would touch.
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to comfort Mary, who had so much faith, and he appeared to comfort Thomas, who doubted.
Jesus loves those who know they are sinners, and he loves those who think they are saints.
Jesus was, and is, impartial.
When we treat all people as equals, honoring every person as loved by God, we are loving them in the way of Jesus.
3. Jesus connected people to one another.
Like his Father said long before, in Genesis 2, “It is not good for man to be alone”, Jesus knew that people need one another. We do not do well when isolated from others, and, from the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was about connecting people to one another and to a community.
Personally, Jesus had his closest three… his core twelve… and many more followers than are specifically named. And, when Jesus sent his followers out to proclaim the Good News, how did he send them? Two-by-two.
The LORD God knows, we need a buddy.
Even in the largest of crowds, Jesus fostered community. In all four of the Gospels, it is recorded that Jesus was teaching a large crowd, five thousand men plus women and children, and the day was getting late. People were hungry (perhaps “hangry”), and the disciples wanted to send the crowd away, into the town, so that they could find something to eat.
It is in this moment that Jesus begins to set the scene for the astounding miracle of feeding all of these people with just a few loaves and a handful of fish. But, before he multiplies this meal, he does something interesting.
He has everyone sit down in groups on the grass – groups of 50 and 100. Why? Because these people were about to experience a miraculous dinner party, and bringing order to the chaos of the crowd would turn this not just into a time of eating but a time of fellowship. On the grass, Jesus created dozens of ‘dinner parties’. Each party would get to see this miracle… eat together… talk together… I can only imagine the wonderful discussions around that supper table!
In addition, in a very individualized way, we see the spreading of the Gospel at its finest when people are connected to one another, one-on-one:
Simon Peter’s brother, Andrew, was the one that brought him to Jesus.
Philip brought his buddy, Nathaniel, to meet Jesus.
Parents brought their children.
Tax collectors brought other tax collectors.
Men and women brought their friends… their relatives… entire households… to Jesus.
And, we still do.
When we are connected to Jesus, he provides us with community. He has given us the Church; and, though it is not perfect, its goal is to provide connection and community to one another in His Name. We are a part of that.
We love people well when we provide connections and community.
When we build up… encourage… invite…
When we break down barriers… remove walls… do away with divisions…
When we help people form healthy relationships with the people around them, we are loving them in the way of Jesus.
Jesus loved the people in front of him – whoever they happened to be.
He paused what he was doing for them. He esteemed them as people worth loving. He created community for them in a world that can feel very isolating and lonely.
This week, how can you love people well? How can you “love your neighbor as yourself”? In what ways can you imitate Christ?
We will not do it perfectly, but we can choose, every day, to love people – ALL people – in the ways of Jesus.
Written by Danielle Walker
Check out Three Ways to “Love Your Neighbor” Like The Good Samaritan
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