Mark 12:29–31 (ESV) - Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Think of God’s commands as God being clear with us.

Luke 10:25-28 (ESV) - And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27And he answered, “You shall 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.” 28And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Luke 10:29 (ESV) - But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Luke 10:30-37 (ESV) - Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Jesus taught the contrast between those who knew the law and those who actually practiced the law.

James 2:14–17 (ESV) - What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Lessons from the Samaritan…
1. He invested his own time and resources in caring for someone he did not know and who was possibly supposed to be an enemy.

2. He invested his own time and resources to care for someone who had never done anything for him.

3. He invested his own time and resources to care for someone who most likely would never be able to pay him back.

Luke 6:35 (ESV) - But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Discussion Questions

1. What observations do you make about two people who love each – either friendship or marriage?

2. If someone were to ask you what it means to love God, what would you say?

3. How does the parable of the good Samaritan answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?”

4. If Jesus was telling this story to you, who might he choose in place of the Samaritan?

5. What does it mean for us to love our neighbor like Jesus conveys through the good Samaritan?

6. Where do we fall short in loving our neighbors in this way?

7. What’s one step you can take this week toward loving God and others more deeply?

8. (Optional) Read Luke 18:18-30. How is this interaction with the rich ruler similar or different than Jesus’ interaction with the lawyer in Luke 10?