Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) (02/22/24)
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TITLE: Who is my Neighbor? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gloria Pierre Dean
02/22/24 -
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"But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” {Luke 10:29}.
His response has made a global impact that has become the life motto of many believers. His interesting story is worth retelling. It is cross-cultural and applicable to people everywhere.
Barabbas was a daring highway robber. He was on an emotional high that day because he and his ruthless gang had been raiding camel trains and robing lone traders with great success. In the early dawn hours, he was sneaking into Jerusalem when he spotted a trader riding his heavy-laden mule as though hell was after him.
The man he saw was Heronotis.
‘My name is Heronotis. I am a Greek silk trader. Each month I travel from Jerusalem to Nain, which is about one hundred miles. I trade silks in the markets along the way making great profit. My beautiful wife and I, together with our daughters, my mother and my sisters grow silkworms at home and weave beautiful fabrics...It is a dangerous journey at times so I usually attach myself to the salt caravans; after all, there is safety in numbers. Alpheus my servant travels with me but he was not with me that day.
One night, I was very tired so I crawled into my makeshift bed to sleep. I woke up to find that the caravan had left. I had not even heard the noisy camels leave. Yesterday’s large evening meal and spiced wine at the inn in Bethany had lulled me into a deep sleep. I hastened to catch up to the caravan and failed to look around for potential attackers.
On a lonely tree-lined stretch of road, I was attacked by Barabas and his hooded men. They pounced on me, beat me up with sticks, and stole my wallet, my donkey and mule, my shoes, my coat, and all of my goods. I was then dragged to a shrubbed area on the lower road where I would not be seen by other travelers.
At least I was alive, barely alive.
“ I lay there in agony breathing shallow breaths in the rising dawn hours. My ribs, legs, head, and back ached severely. Blood oozed from my cut lips and my nose. My clothing was torn.
I prayed, "God, please send me help". I wanted to live and return to my family.
Then I heard loud footsteps in the distance so I cried out “Help, please help me”.
The man I saw in the distance through blurry eyes was a Pharisee, a priest of the temple leaving Jerusalem. He hurriedly changed directions and tiptoed away; he went to the other road holding his nose and did not look back.
It did not surprise me, I was covered in blood and the flies were beginning to gather. Vultures were circling, creating ominous shadows in the sky. I kept trying to move even if slightly to deter them.
About ten minutes later, I saw a Levite priest walking by. He was humming and muttering prayers to himself. He too ignored my cry for help. He averted his eyes and hastened away.
The next thing I heard was a mule's loud whimper. I looked up and saw legs, and this man had stopped. He was a Samaritan. Samaritans were outcasts in this nation. I was sure that this man would finish what the robbers had started, but I was wrong.
“Why should this social outcast who had been so cruelly treated by everyone including me, help me” I thought to myself.
“Hello friend, let me help you,” he said.
“I can see that you have been overtaken by that roving gang of thieves. Here, I will clean up your wounds and take you to the inn".
"I will pay him, so don’t worry about that. My name is Justus”. He spoke in a soothing voice which calmed my agitated mind. He was the third man and he had saved my life today with his kind act. He picked me up and put me on his mule and took me to the inn. I woke up in a comfortable bed. The innkeeper’s wife served me warm soup and a pain-reducing drink.
Over the next weeks, Justus came to see me twice. When he was sure that I could walk without pain he said goodbye. He left me a donkey so that I could travel home to my family.
Justus was more than my neighbor, he was my brother, my doctor and my friend.
As the lawyer had asked Jesus “..and who is my neighbor?” Jesus' response resounds again and again; canceling out the multiple laws that many failed to live by. "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’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” {Luke 10:27}. Your neighbor may live in the next room or the next street. She or he may sit next to you in church, or live in another country and speak a different language.
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