Love Your Neighbor

“Love Your Neighbor”
Luke 10:29-37
June 28, 2026

Rosaria Butterfield asks the question, “Christians have a powerful history of building schools and hospitals, of showing up during natural disasters to offer water and food and shelter and medicine. We have that history. But do we have the daily witness of Christian neighboring?” [my emphasis]

It’s tempting to answer that question, “Yes, of course…”  We are always inclined to justify our actions and assume the best about ourselves.  That was also the inclination of a particular religious man in Jesus’ day. When Jesus affirmed that the man had rightly understood that the essence of the Mosaic Law was to love both God and man, the man attempted to justify his apparent lack of love by asking the question, “who is my neighbor?” (Lk. 10:29) — as if to say, “I may not love everyone well, but I do love my neighbors well (I dare you to explain who a neighbor is).” 

And that led to one of the most well-known of Jesus’ stories — a story that is embraced and known and loved even by the world:  the story of the Good Samaritan.  I found more than 20 different artists who have painted their imagined interpretations of the scene; Rembrandt apparently loved the story and had five or more different paintings or sketches of the story. 

As we come to the story of the Good Samaritan (10:30-37), let’s remember that it is closely connected to the previous interaction between Jesus and the lawyer (10:25-29):  

When we love God, we will sacrificially love others.

The question for the lawyer, and us, is, “are there limitations on the extent of that love?  Are there some I don’t have to love?  Can I fail to love some and still be righteous (obedient to God)?

Let’s listen to the story with fresh ears, and then observe the lessons Jesus gives the lawyer (and us).

1. The Reason for the Story of the Good Samaritan (v. 29)
2. The Story of the Good Samaritan (vv. 30-35)
3. The Meaning and Implications of the Story of the Good Samaritan (vv. 36-37)

Download the rest of this sermon on Luke 10:29-37.

“The Good Samarian” (Rembrandt), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.