Part 3 of “For God So Loved the United States.…”

The Good Samaritan

I suspect most people know the Story of the “Good Samaritan.” During the time of Jesus, a lawyer decided to test Jesus by asking Him:

"Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

And He said to him..

“What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”

And the Lawyer responds...

“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.”

And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

But What about You and Me - What must We do to Inherit Eternal Life?

Being brought up in the Christian tradition, I know the importance and significance of the eternal life question that seems to drive people cray—the question being

“What shall I do to inherit eternal life.”

Attending a Catholic church as a child, one of the first things I was indoctrinated in the matters pertaining to the next life—the one after “this one.” Looking back, it seems so wrong to explain to children as young as six years of age, that it is time to worry about their next life, when they haven’t even started to figure out this life.

Nevertheless, regardless of place or culture, this question of “eternal life” continues on and there are many different answers to it depending on who you asked. As a Catholic, I was taught that going to heaven meant not going to hell, purgatory and even limbo. Heaven itself was never described except you don’t go “down there.”

I was taught that the only way to get to heaven was not to sin, or more specifically not to have “unconfessed sins (given by a priest) on your soul at the moment of death.

Catholics did not teach salvation (going to heaven) as dependent upon good works. Works seemed to have nothing to do with going to heaven. It was all about sin; venial and mortal sins to be specific. In short, Catholics didn’t preach eternal life through good works, because God was only interested to see if you had sin on your soul the moment you expired. Isn’t that crazy? I think the Catholics standalone on this matter.

Back to the Lawyer…

Lawyers in the time of Jesus were nothing like the ones we are familiar with today. Their role was a religious one deciding on questions of the Old Testament law and to instruct the young on Mosaic laws and commandments.

When the lawyer asked Jesus what it took to obtain eternal life, Jesus knew that, being a lawyer of Mosaic law, he already knew the answer. Jesus asked him what he, being an expert in law, thought it took to obtain eternal life.

It turns out the lawyer knew it all along. The answer remains the same throughout time, and worthy of repeating it again…

“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.”

To find cover, the Lawyer asked Jesus “who is my neighbor?”

That question was responded to in the form of a parable as summarized below.

The Good Samaritan

When the lawyer asked Jesus who his neighbor was, Jesus told a story of a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. For brevity sake, I paraphrased what happened next.

And by chance a Priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion. From that point, the Samaritan bandaged up his wounds, carried him into to an inn and paid for his stay and other costs associated with this stranger.

Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And the lawyer said, “The one who showed mercy toward him. Then Jesus said to him..

"Go And Do The Same.”

Jesus’ response was a loaded one. Here Jesus is speaking to a Lawyer of Mosaic law, and delivering a parable which included two other religious people of his day being the Priest and the Levite.

short, He is telling us don't be fooled by the "Religious."

But what is a Samaritan? To the Jews, he was a half breed. He was part Jew and part Gentile. He was looked down upon as a white racist would look at a person being half white and black. Jesus let him and anyone else listening, it doesn’t mean a damn thing where you came from—it matters where you are going and if you are going to “Love your Neighbor.”

For those who listened to Jesus and who didn’t get the message the first time, He repeats what He said above but with a twist. When Jesus was asked what the great commandment in the law, Jesus responded.

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

It isn’t difficult to understand what loving your neighbor as yourself is all about. But, it is very difficult to understand “what it means to Love God,” as if He needed it.

IT'S ALL MESSED UP!

The act of Loving God has manifested itself in bizarre and even evil acts throughout history. Some showed their love to God by building big and beautiful churches (and on the backs of the poor), kiss and adore statues of religious icons, killing Muslims during the crusades and in return, Muslims killing Christian crusaders…It’s all messed up.

Loving God remains an aloof concept and open to anyone who wants to fill in the blanks to suit their needs. But I think the Gospel gives us clarity when taken in context to what Jesus says about one’s judgment following his/her death as it pertains to what it means to “Love God.”

Your Judgment

If you believe in a personal judgment at the end of your life, then you should pay close attention to how Jesus will judge Us by asking each of us the following...

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’

"When the righteous asks the Lord, when did we attend to your needs?"

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me"

And then there are others whom Jesus will say...

"Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me."

Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them...

"Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me"

"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous eternal life.”

Jesus is letting us know in advance, that He takes it personal—very personal when you assist or deny help to the needy—especially the children. Of them, Jesus says

"If anyone causes one of these little ones-those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

And here’s another Clue to what Jesus will be looking at during your judgment…

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Can you imagine that…those doing all of their religious works including prophesizing, casting out demons, and conducting other “religious” rituals—these people were “Cast Out!” They may have cast demons out of people, but Jesus will cast them out of heaven. Why?

Just listen to what the sinner “doesn’t say”. Never does he bring up how often he fed the poor and gave aid to those desperate for it. Their confession began with what they performed and not what they did for anyone but themselves, and, as a result, they pay a heavy price—an eternal one.

You know these false prophets. They have their own TV show where they play the game “prophet for profit.” They do put on quite a show—exercising of demons and healing people “on demand.” Such hypocrisy and thievery—I can’t stand to watch them on TV for one minute. Can you imagine spending an eternity with them? God wisely canceled them and their TV theatrics.

If one is serious about Loving God and your neighbor as yourself, I have modified the following for practical purposes, and I don’t think God will send fire and brimstone for tampering with His words.

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind by loving your neighbor as yourself"

I'm VERY Comfortable with this understanding. It explains what it Means when Jesus said to those who helped those in need...

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me"

OMG- We Have both the Questions and the Answers to Pass our Test Ahead of time AND it's Not Cheating. So we should all Pass and enter into Eternal Life. Right?

Halleluiah, the mystery of loving God has been solved. So simple, so black and white, so untangled in its interpretation —so much so that it will certainly be warped to fit the nature of those intent on hating rather than loving.

So how do you measure up? Are you a Good Samaritan or a Bad Samaritan?