Jesus indicated that this was the correct answer. But for clarification, the lawyer asked Jesus to define the term "neighbor." So, Jesus did so by using a parable that we know as the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
From this, we get a very comprehensive answer to the question that leaves no room for doubt as to how this, the very core principle of the Christian gospel, is to be applied. This is a core principle, by the way, that is at the forefront of our entire teaching and preaching ministry at MCA. We teach our students that the foundation of a Christian testimony rests on how they treat others. And that comes directly from Jesus' revealing this to us this way.
The Implications of the Use of The Example of a Samaritan
The Samaritans were the object of ethnic hatred by the Jews. They were the result of a racial mixing of the few Jewish people left behind after the Babylonian Captivity with the other semitic people who moved into the province in and around Jerusalem. Their religious beliefs, and cultural practices, which set them apart from the Jewish population, along with political favor they had apparently enjoyed under some of the Babylonian kings, let to the prejudice and hatred they experienced from the Jewish people. Once back in the province of Judah, and the city of Jerusalem, the Jews treated the Samaritans like pariahs and pagans.
So the message that Jesus was sending, when he told this parable, was about more than just who lives next door or down the street. He intentionally used this example to demonstrate the idea of Imago Dei, all human beings are created in the image of God, and therefore the definition of "neighbor," for the purpose of obedience to the greatest commandment, is any human without condition. I've heard, in some interpretations of this parable, that since the Samaritan was travelling between Jerusalem and Jericho, he might have been a proselyte, but Jesus didn't go there at all. In fact, in this particular parable, Jesus uses two religious leaders as bad examples, in spite of their claimed belief. In that, I believe he was saying that obedience to the first part of this commandment is pointless without the "love your neighbor" part.
Noting that this is a parable, meaning that the characters display actions Jesus intended to use as a specific example, he creates the character of the Samaritan to deliberately do the right thing. His experiences from his past, which all of those who heard this parable would be able to understand and put in context, were set aside to illustrate the full scope of exactly what Jesus intended to say, and that was that the evidence of our obedience to loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength is found in the way we treat other people without exception.
Through all of those barriers, justifications for hatred, and actual experience, the Samaritan, as Jesus characterizes him, sees a fellow human being in need, and takes on the role of a servant. In unselfishness that reveals Christlikeness, the focus of the moment becomes meeting the needs of a fellow human being created in the image of God. And Jesus has revealed, from God the Father, that this is an example which illustrates the first and greatest commandment, leading to eternal life.
Why This is Important to Us
As a Christian school that sees its mission and purpose of educating children and youth in an environment where the truth of the Christian gospel is integrated into their school experience as well as their curriculum objectives, we rest on these core principles of that gospel. This includes recognizing that human beings are all created in the image of God, and that is the intrinsic value of our existence. The Christian gospel rests on what Jesus said about the greatest commandment, linking the demonstration of our wholehearted love for God with the way we treat others.
Our ministry is to support and undergird the Christian faith for our students in a way that supports what they are being taught at home and in their local church, alongside teaching basic skills that are an essential part of life in a free society. We see the two things as being linked. In order for this to be successful, we need the support of parents who have a clear understanding of where and how the greatest commandment defines our Christian faith.
I spend a lot of time resolving student conflicts. Jesus and the Apostles teach us, through the scripture, that humans are created in the image of God, but we are born with a sinful nature that requires redemption. School aged children may have been exposed to the Christian gospel and its values, and some of them may have experienced the conviction and repentance that leads to redemption, but not all of them have, and even most of those who do are still in the process of figuring out how to listen to spiritual direction and shed their selfish nature. School becomes a place where multiple experiences with a lot of other children their own age and time out from the direct supervision of their parents produces behavior that is self-centered. When interests collide, conflict is the result.
There is an expectation that parents who enroll their children in a Christian school would have an understanding of this direction that the ministry aspect of the school would take, and as a result of that, we would never have to deal with any kind of disruptive behavior or mediate conflicts. I'm going to be honest here and relate observations that have been true of every Christian school where I have served. Our students have more exposure to Biblical teaching than they would if they were in a public school, but Christian maturity is a lifelong process, and it starts with salvation. It shouldn't surprise anyone that about 80% of our students have not experienced conviction, repentance and salvation at this point in their lives. They may have an intellectual understanding of what is right and wrong behavior based on what they've learned from scripture, but overcoming the selfishness relate to sinful nature takes spiritual maturity.
School Works With Home and Church
We're designed to support and undergird, and that requires parents being the ones who are primarily responsible for the spiritual development of their children. And the other side of the equation involves our support for what our students learn and experience in their church. What that means is that if parents want this to work, and expect this to work, they must be growing in their own spiritual maturity and leading their children, and they must engage them in the worship, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism and ministry of a local body of believers in Christ, as part of the Ecclesia, the gathered body of Christ.
Our school has open enrollment, so about 20% of our families tell us, during the application process, that they are not active members of a local church. We can discern, from what our students tell us, that another 20% are not regular in their worship attendance and are not engaged in ministry in their church. We hope that our daily Bible study and weekly chapel worship helps students have this kind of experience, but there isn't a substitute for being engaged in the ministry of a local church, not just sitting in a pew on Sunday.
We can't guarantee that your child will become a believer in Christ, and be an active member of a local church just because they've been in Christian school. But being here certainly increases the odds of that happening. There is evidence to support the fact that school aged children and youth who are enrolled in a Christian school, and whose families are actively involved in local church ministry, beyond just weekly attendance, are much less likely to leave church behind in their 20's than their counterparts who aren't in Christian school, or whose families aren't committed to a local church.
It may be hard to believe, but I've had parents at every Christian school where I've served complain that the emphasis we place on church involvement is "too much." I'd suggest that an hour and a half a couple of times a month is not enough. It seems that positive results come from two or three hours at church once a week, and five days a week at Christian school.
This Is All Connected
I earned my Master's degree in a theological seminary. The major in Christian education also required that half of the hours required for graduation be taken in the school of theology. There's no Bible study quite like that. There is time to focus attention, for an entire semester, on single books, if you can imagine a class on Second Corinthians, or on First, Second and Third John, and Jude, taking an entire semester.
The interpretive standard for the New Testament, and indeed for the whole Bible, is the revelation of the gospel given by Jesus, recorded in the four gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus was God, and was able to reveal the full nature and character of God accurately, with both authority and a clarity of thought that makes the ominous sounding course in "systematic theology" flow with ease. With relatively few words, Jesus gave us the gospel. And our entire understanding of God's plan to redeem his human creation from sin rests in our interpretation of scripture through the lens of that gospel.
So when Jesus says that the best demonstration of my Christian testimony is shown in the way that I treat my neighbor, translated into "all other people," I can be sure that's true. When he says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God," then I need to become a peacemaker. And when he says, "Go, make disciples, and teach them to observe all things," that becomes the way I conduct my ministry, through this Christian school. So we start with showing our students how to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength by showing them how to love their neighbor as themselves, and all of our theme verses and chapel worship times are focused on this message.
We want to reflect the image of God.
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