There are many who believe that Jesus encompasses the Law that God gave to Moses, therefore, we need only have faith and show our faith in Jesus without bothering to read the fine print known as the Law. Fair enough since Jesus said that all that fine print can be summed up into two commandments…That we love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and we love eachother as we love ourselves. Jesus also made clear that he came to fulfill the Law, not to abolish even one iota of it, so the Law is still represented by his two commandments.
Who could not accept, then, that one of the Laws of Moses, Leviticus 19:34 which says, “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God,” is encompassed within Jesus’ two commandments? For cannot a stranger/sojourner among you, in the context of the stranger/sojourner in Leviticus 19:34, be your neighbor?
What is a neighbor? Jesus defines a neighbor in terms of a parable in which a man who is traveling is beaten and robbed by a gang. After the gang leaves him, the man, who is laying on the ground, bleeding, his clothes torn, is ignored by a priest and a Levite who walk by, but he was helped by a good samaritan, who brings him to an inn and tells the innkeeper to take care of him. Jesus says that the good samaritan who helped the man is the man’s neighbor.
Now it may be insinuated that because the priest and the Levite didn’t help the man, they were not the man’s neighbor and therefore they were under no obligation to show any love to the stricken man. But as God is love, the priest and the Levite would have been obligated to be his neighbor as God wants that we all should come to love eachother as we love Him. Another question that Jesus could have asked regarding his parable is, Of the three, which of them was a firm believer of God? It is evident that the good samaritan is. So, while the priest and the Levite go to their respective temples with their flowing robes and with the admiration of the people, the one who is really a firm believer of God is the good samaritan.
How does this apply to the present? There are many among us, particularly those who hold some office in government, who strive to impress others with their religiosity. Oh, they may go to a house of worship, they may put money in the plate, they may say all the right things concerning abortion and homosexuality, because their voters are against these things, but how much of a believer in God can those officeholders be when they don’t want to be neighbors to the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of our teaming shores? For that matter, how much of a believer can their voters be if they don’t want to be their neighbors either?
Does a government under God have any obligation to these people? Romans 13:1 says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” The governing authorities under God are expected to take care of those within their borders, since 1 Timothy 3:5 says, “…if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?” it has been widely accepted that the “household” referred to in 1 Timothy 3:5 extends to an entire nation of which the government is responsible for. And to be sure, in that context and in terms of the household under the government, 1 Timothy 5:8 says, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
So, any governing authority is expected to govern under God. But is that what is really happening in some places? What about a government that provides that its household not encourage abortion and homosexuality, but is not a neighbor to the poor and needy? Is the government abiding by the Law as Jesus conveyed it to us? But they would want those in their household to believe they do, just because they abide by part of the Law the part involving abortion and homosexuality, without abiding by all of it, as summarized in Jesus’ two commandments, which includes loving your neighbor.
And in the context of Jesus’ parable, who is a neighbor to the stranger/sojourners both among us and who are on their way to us, who want a better life for their family households: The officeholders who not only ignore them, but incarcerate them and separate their families, or people across a nation the other day, protesting against the way their government was treating these people? And who is showing more love to these people? Is it those officeholders, or is it those who were protesting? A person who strives for righteousness would not find these questions to be difficult at all.
Who could not accept, then, that one of the Laws of Moses, Leviticus 19:34 which says, “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God,” is encompassed within Jesus’ two commandments? For cannot a stranger/sojourner among you, in the context of the stranger/sojourner in Leviticus 19:34, be your neighbor?
What is a neighbor? Jesus defines a neighbor in terms of a parable in which a man who is traveling is beaten and robbed by a gang. After the gang leaves him, the man, who is laying on the ground, bleeding, his clothes torn, is ignored by a priest and a Levite who walk by, but he was helped by a good samaritan, who brings him to an inn and tells the innkeeper to take care of him. Jesus says that the good samaritan who helped the man is the man’s neighbor.
Now it may be insinuated that because the priest and the Levite didn’t help the man, they were not the man’s neighbor and therefore they were under no obligation to show any love to the stricken man. But as God is love, the priest and the Levite would have been obligated to be his neighbor as God wants that we all should come to love eachother as we love Him. Another question that Jesus could have asked regarding his parable is, Of the three, which of them was a firm believer of God? It is evident that the good samaritan is. So, while the priest and the Levite go to their respective temples with their flowing robes and with the admiration of the people, the one who is really a firm believer of God is the good samaritan.
How does this apply to the present? There are many among us, particularly those who hold some office in government, who strive to impress others with their religiosity. Oh, they may go to a house of worship, they may put money in the plate, they may say all the right things concerning abortion and homosexuality, because their voters are against these things, but how much of a believer in God can those officeholders be when they don’t want to be neighbors to the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of our teaming shores? For that matter, how much of a believer can their voters be if they don’t want to be their neighbors either?
Does a government under God have any obligation to these people? Romans 13:1 says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” The governing authorities under God are expected to take care of those within their borders, since 1 Timothy 3:5 says, “…if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?” it has been widely accepted that the “household” referred to in 1 Timothy 3:5 extends to an entire nation of which the government is responsible for. And to be sure, in that context and in terms of the household under the government, 1 Timothy 5:8 says, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
So, any governing authority is expected to govern under God. But is that what is really happening in some places? What about a government that provides that its household not encourage abortion and homosexuality, but is not a neighbor to the poor and needy? Is the government abiding by the Law as Jesus conveyed it to us? But they would want those in their household to believe they do, just because they abide by part of the Law the part involving abortion and homosexuality, without abiding by all of it, as summarized in Jesus’ two commandments, which includes loving your neighbor.
And in the context of Jesus’ parable, who is a neighbor to the stranger/sojourners both among us and who are on their way to us, who want a better life for their family households: The officeholders who not only ignore them, but incarcerate them and separate their families, or people across a nation the other day, protesting against the way their government was treating these people? And who is showing more love to these people? Is it those officeholders, or is it those who were protesting? A person who strives for righteousness would not find these questions to be difficult at all.
