Love Thy Neighbor as Yourself

[CWH]

Just to find out fromthe floor their insight into thy neighbor. Who are our neighbors? What is your opinion? Is thy neighbor......
1. Everybody? If so, why is everybody our neighbor?...incuding your enemies?....
2. Those around us? Sounds more like it but how about those not around us? Are they also our neighbor?..... Are we supposed to love those around us only?
3. Those who interact with us directly or indirectly? Well ok, how about those who did not interact with us at all? Do we still love those who don't interact with us at all?
4. Those who need our help? How about those who do not need our help, are they our neighbor also?

What is the Bible's definition of thy neighbor?

Luke 10:25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. 'Teacher,' he asked, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?'
26 'What is written in the Law?' he replied. 'How do you read it?'

27 He answered, '‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]'

28 'You have answered correctly,' Jesus replied. 'Do this and you will live.'

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'
30 In reply Jesus said: 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 'Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?'

37 The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.'
Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'

I think the answer is very clear, thy neighbor is the one who show us mercy or the one whom we show mercy to.

What is your opinion?


May God Bless us in the New Year. Happy New Year!

[heb13-13]

Just to find out fromthe floor their insight into thy neighbor. Who are our neighbors? What is your opinion? Is thy neighbor......
1. Everybody? If so, why is everybody our neighbor?...incuding your enemies?....
2. Those around us? Sounds more like it but how about those not around us? Are they also our neighbor?..... Are we supposed to love those around us only?
3. Those who interact with us directly or indirectly? Well ok, how about those who did not interact with us at all? Do we still love those who don't interact with us at all?
4. Those who need our help? How about those who do not need our help, are they our neighbor also?

What is the Bible's definition of thy neighbor?

Luke 10:25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. 'Teacher,' he asked, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?'
26 'What is written in the Law?' he replied. 'How do you read it?'

27 He answered, '‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]'

28 'You have answered correctly,' Jesus replied. 'Do this and you will live.'

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'
30 In reply Jesus said: 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 'Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?'

37 The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.'
Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'

I think the answer is very clear, thy neighbor is the one who show us mercy or the one whom we show mercy to.

What is your opinion?


May God Bless us in the New Year. Happy New Year!

Interesting that they ask Jesus who their neighbor is and Jesus turned it around on them and said a neighbor is a person that shows mercy.

Luke 10:29
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Luke 10:36
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

Luke 10:37
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

So, Jesus is telling us not to worry about who we think is our neighbor, meaning it is not up to us to determine who needs mercy, the only thing we need to be concerned with is do we show mercy? Do we walk in compassion and ready to show mercy on every man as God is? Man has a way of rationalizing who needs mercy or not just like 2 guys who decided not to show mercy.

And we are not supposed to turn this into legalism, either. Every spiritual principle of the heart that God shows us is always guided by the Holy Spirit in relationship with Him. Otherwise, you could easily depart from Christ and start your OWN ministry of collecting food and clothes to give to the poor thinking this will "buy" your way into heaven. The Lord has to be the Author of all good works otherwise they will burn up as wood, hay and stubble when the true motivations of the heart are revealed. We work in concert with Christ not apart from Him. Nothing and no one should cause us to depart from Christ.

There is a billionaire that is providing vaccinations for millions but recently it has been revealed that this is his way of achieving population reduction.

http://www.naturalnews.com/029911_va...ill_Gates.html

[CWH]

Interesting that they ask Jesus who their neighbor is and Jesus turned it around on them and said a neighbor is a person that shows mercy.

Luke 10:29
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Luke 10:36
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

Luke 10:37
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

So, Jesus is telling us not to worry about who we think is our neighbor, meaning it is not up to us to determine who needs mercy, the only thing we need to be concerned with is do we show mercy? Do we walk in compassion and ready to show mercy on every man as God is? Man has a way of rationalizing who needs mercy or not just like 2 guys who decided not to show mercy.

And we are not supposed to turn this into legalism, either. Every spiritual principle of the heart that God shows us is always guided by the Holy Spirit in relationship with Him. Otherwise, you could easily depart from Christ and start your OWN ministry of collecting food and clothes to give to the poor thinking this will "buy" your way into heaven. The Lord has to be the Author of all good works otherwise they will burn up as wood, hay and stubble when the true motivations of the heart are revealed. We work in concert with Christ not apart from Him. Nothing and no one should cause us to depart from Christ.

There is a billionaire that is providing vaccinations for millions but recently it has been revealed that this is his way of achieving population reduction.

http://www.naturalnews.com/029911_va...ill_Gates.html

Thanks Rick,

This thread is actually to explore the meaning of Neighbor which cannot obviously mean everybody. If so, why why would Jesus said Love thy neighbor as yourself when He would have said Love Everyone as yourself? The other issue is, Is Loving thy neighbor as yourself synonymous with Love others as yourself or Love one another or Do unto others what you want others to do unto you? I think there may be a difference.

Matthew 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

"Love one another as I have love you"

[David M]

Here is some more food for thought

Would our neighbor be our brethren? If we are in Christ, we are his brethren and brethren to one another.

We should remind ourselves of what the dictionary defimition is; The one who we live close to or next to. Apart from the obvious physical neighbors we we could apply this to mean those who we are close to in spirit and in truth, hence our brethren in Christ.

A similar parable to that of the Good Samaritan is the following and the last line is the most important to note in the context of neighbor:

Matthew 25
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as yehave done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.


I see that we should not turn away from helping anyone who has need with whom we come in contact as the story of the Good Samaritan shows, if we get flagged down by someone on the road who needs desperate help, do we stop and help or put our foot down and speed on by? This would be the modern take on the Good Samaritan the way we behave in our cars. If we see an accident ahead and the likelihood of someone needing help, do we take a detour andput a lot of distance between us and the scene of the accodent?

In times of persoanl limited resources, it is impossible to help everyone we see in need. When we have brethren who we see have need, then as the parable above would indicate, we ought to direct our resources to our brethren first.


David

[CWH]

Love thy neighbor as thyself simply means love and help those who kindly need our help and love those who kindly help us. This is express very nicely in an article:

http://erlc.com/article/who-is-my-neighbor/

Who is my Neighbor?
By staff - Jan 21, 2010 -

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10:29
Context
A hallmark of Jesus’ ministry was meeting the needs of those around Him. Being a physician Luke was especially sensitive to this. In fact, he was the only gospel writer to reproduce all of Isaiah 61:1, which Jesus read when He announced the start of his ministry (Lk. 4:18). Following that announcement, Luke records a series of activities by Jesus in which He met the various spiritual (10:31-37) and physical needs of people (e.g., 4:38-44, 5:1-11, 8:22-25, 8:40-56).
Jesus did not engage in this ministry alone. Soon He sent His disciples out to meet the many needs of the people (Lk. 9:1-6, 10:1-24). The disciples returned some time later and reported the news of the success of their ministries (Lk. 10:17). Evidently, the activities of the disciples raised an important question among some people. They wondered just how far this ministry should extend. Luke answered this question by relating an encounter between Jesus and a Bible scholar. In that encounter, the scholar asked Jesus to tell him who qualified as a neighbor that he should love as himself (Lk. 10:25-37). Jesus told him the parable of the Samaritan to answer his question.
Introduction
One of many challenges Jesus faced during his ministry was helping Jews understand the real meaning of their Scriptures. Often, the Old Testament was interpreted very narrowly in order to prevent its interference in cultural norms. Jesus confronted this practice on many occasions. Matthew records a number of instances in which Jesus interpreted the real meaning of passages in the Old Testament. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained the true meaning of God’s prohibition of murder (Math 5:21-22), adultery (Matt. 5:27-30), divorce (Math 5:31-32), and many other teachings. In the current passage, Jesus explained to a Jewish Bible scholar what God meant when he told His people to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Within Jesus’ explanation, is the foundation for all human relationships, especially those between people of different races. In His parable of the Samaritan, Jesus reveals three characteristics of a person who loves his neighbor as he ought to.
I. A True Neighbor is Colorblind to those in Need
Jesus chose an extreme example to answer the scholar’s question. It is difficult to overstate the level of animosity between Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ day. Samaritans were descendants of non-Jews who had been resettled in the area just north of Jerusalem by the Assyrians 700 years earlier (See 2 Kgs. 17:24-41). By Jesus’ time, many Samaritans were the offspring of marriages between non-Jews and Jews. The hatred ran so deep that many Jews preferred to travel east and cross the Jordan River before heading north to Galilee or south to Judah. In this way, they could avoid traveling through the region of Samaria, which lay between Judah and Galilee.
In His parable Jesus contrasted the act of compassion by a hated Samaritan and the lack of compassion exhibited by those who claimed obedience to the Law. When the man was attacked and left for dead, both the Jewish priest and Levite stayed as far from the dying man as possible by passing by “on the other side” (Lk 10:31-32). This could be compared today to crossing the road to avoid something in one’s path on the sidewalk. Most modern commentators reject the idea that the priest and Levite avoided the man because they were concerned about ritual purity. Two reasons for rejecting this explanation for their actions are: (1) they were probably going away from Jerusalem so they had finished their responsibilities at the temple and didn’t need to be as concerned about ritual purity; (2) they would only have become defiled if the man was dead or had a disease like leprosy.
In contrast, the Samaritan stopped and helped the dying man (Lk. 10:33-34). Jesus did not mention the race or nationality of the injured man. This was of no importance. What mattered was that there was an injured man lying in the path of those who had the power to help him. The Jewish religious leaders saw an obstacle to their purity, while the Samaritan saw an opportunity to help a person in need.
II. A True Neighbor has Compassion for Those in Need
Jesus said that the Samaritan “took pity” on the injured man. The word translated “took pity” is the Greek word esplanchnisthe. W. Liefeld, Luke, EBC, p. 943, observes that the word “implies a deep feeling of sympathy.” The same word is used often to describe Jesus’ response to those in need, e.g., Math 9:36, Lk. 7:13. The Samaritan responded to the man’s needs in the same way Jesus would have responded, but the priest and Levite revealed an opposite attitude by their response.
The Samaritan’s compassion led him to act. This, of course, required that he touch the dying man, something the Jewish men refused to do. He bandaged the man’s wounds and also poured oil and wine on him. J. Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus, p. 204, says, “the oil would mollify (Isa. 1:6), the wine would disinfect.”
III. A True Neighbor is Committed to Helping Those in Need
The Samaritan’s act of compassion revealed a level of commitment that bespoke the true nature of being a neighbor to others. The Samaritan inconvenienced himself or the suffering man. It would have been easier to continue on his journey (Lk. 10:33). No doubt, he had appointments and time schedules to keep, but he suspended all of these to help a person in need.
Additionally, the Samaritan sacrificed for the needs of this man. Not only did he use some of his own resources to tend to the man’s wounds, he put the man on “his own donkey” and cared for him through the night. (Lk. 10:34-35). On the next day, when it was obvious the man would need more time to recover, the Samaritan paid the innkeeper two denarii (two days’ wages) to look after him until he returned, and promised to reimburse him for any additional expenses. L. Petersen, “Money,” The New International Dictionary of the Bible, p. 669, comments that the sum of money committed by the Samaritan to aid an unknown stranger “showed how great his love for his neighbor was.”
The Samaritan did not act superficially when he met this man’s needs. He did not bandage him and prop him up by the roadside to fend for himself. He helped the man get to safety, put him up at the inn at his own expense, and intended to return to check on the man’s situation. His compassion led him to help until his help was no longer needed.

Conclusion
When the Jewish scholar asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded with a parable about a man who acted like a neighbor. This parable did not address directly the question posed by the scholar. Was the neighbor the man who was hurt or the Samaritan? From Jesus’ question in v. 36 and the scholar’s reply in v. 37, it is clear that the neighbor was the Samaritan. Rather than telling the scholar who was his neighbor, Jesus reversed the roles and instructed the scholar to act like a neighbor to others (Lk. 10:37). In other words, he should not ask who is his neighbor, he should see himself as a neighbor to everyone he meets. Once he becomes everyone’s neighbor, then everyone he meets will be his neighbor. C. Eerdman, The Gospel of Luke, p. 126, concluded, “Thus Jesus indicated that our neighbor is not only one who ‘lives near’ but one who needs our help, as well as one who helps our need. He demonstrated the truth that the law of love is not limited by rank or station or race or creed.”

May God Bless all those who love thy neighbor.

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Love thy neighbor as thyself simply means love and help those who kindly need our help and love those who kindly help us. This is express very nicely in an article:

http://erlc.com/article/who-is-my-neighbor/

Who is my Neighbor?
By staff - Jan 21, 2010 -

It is true that Jesus elevated the OT command to "love your neighbor" (meaning other Israelites) to include all people. But that only shows that the Yahweh was morally deficient when he specified "the children of your people" when he gave the command to the Israelites:

Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

[David M]

It is true that Jesus elevated the OT command to "love your neighbor" (meaning other Israelites) to include all people. But that only shows that the Yahweh was morally deficient when he specified "the children of your people" when he gave the command to the Israelites:

Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

I do not think God is morally deficient and it is the people who think He is who are deficient of understanding. The law was given to God's chosen people and they were supposed to live by it and be examples to the nations around them, alas they were not much better than other people when it comes to following instruction and being obedient. It is wrong to say that they treated only their own people as their neighbour. What they were instructed to do and what they did are two entirely different matters and the people should be blamed if they did not do as God instructed. Any stranger coming into their land and dwelling among them were to be shown respect and treated as one of their own. This was the instruction from God.

Leviticus 29:
33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

David

[Rose]

I do not think God is morally deficient and it is the people who think He is who are deficient of understanding. The law was given to God's chosen people and they were supposed to live by it and be examples to the nations around them, alas they were not much better than other people when it comes to following instruction and being obedient. It is wrong to say that they treated only their own people as their neighbour. What they were instructed to do and what they did are two entirely different matters and the people should be blamed if they did not do as God instructed. Any stranger coming into their land and dwelling among them were to be shown respect and treated as one of their own. This was the instruction from God.

Leviticus 29:
33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

David

Hi David,

Those verses in Leviticus only shows how contradictory the Bible is. Yahweh commanded in the laws given to the Hebrews that women be treated as property, and allowed for people to be owned as slaves...that my friend is not treating your neighbor as yourself. No one wants to be the property of another, and no one wants to be denied their human rights, yet over and over again the biblegod dictates that it be so!

Found in the same book of Leviticus a few chapters earlier, we read the way the Hebrews really "loved their neighbors as themselves" according to Yahweh's law.

Lev.25:44-45 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

Take care,
Rose

[Richard Amiel McGough]

I do not think God is morally deficient and it is the people who think He is who are deficient of understanding. The law was given to God's chosen people and they were supposed to live by it and be examples to the nations around them, alas they were not much better than other people when it comes to following instruction and being obedient. It is wrong to say that they treated only their own people as their neighbour. What they were instructed to do and what they did are two entirely different matters and the people should be blamed if they did not do as God instructed. Any stranger coming into their land and dwelling among them were to be shown respect and treated as one of their own. This was the instruction from God.

Leviticus 29:
33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

David

Good afternoon David,

I can see why you would want to focus on that verse since it superficially seems to cohere with the teachings of Jesus about love for all people. But it completely fails in that regard. The passage that Rose cited shows that the "strangers that sojourned" amongst the Israelites were most certainly NOT treated equally as the Israelites. They could be bought as slaves and never redeemed, whereas the same law says that Israelites could be redeemed. The strangers and their children were subject to perpetual slavery with no hope of redemption. Such a law reveals nothing like "loving them as yourself."

Therefore, it is perfectly clear that the passage you cited either contradicts the other passages or does not mean what you hoped it would mean. In either case, you have not found a solution to the fact that the teachings of the OT are morally inferior to those of the NT.

All the best,

Richard

[Gil]

Howdy,

Gil > What should be equally addressed is what if the Samaritan had came across the man as he was being beaten.
Would the Samaritan have dived into the fray and helped to defend him , to kill for him if necessary if he to was attacked as well?.

Or would Jesus have said," give him you right check and the left " until they leave and then help him out of the ditch.

Gil

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