David Bahn – Reflections

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered, “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.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.³⁴ He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.³⁵ And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

”Leaders lead. Leaders speak first. Leaders frame the question.” That was Lyle Schaller’s aphorism on leadership. I especially like the last one. Questions are powerful tools in helping people discover their own answers to life’s challenges. They may be thought of as neutral, but truly no question is without bias.

That is certainly true with the lawyer’s question. He has an agenda. He wants to trap Jesus and justify himself. Jesus answers the lawyer’s firsts question with a question. When the lawyer answers Jesus tells I’m to “do this, [keep the Law] and you will live.” Then comes the lawyer’s second question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan in order to set up yet another question. He asks, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

Once the answer comes, Jesus then says, “Go and do likewise.” But there is so much in that story that will make it difficult for the lawyer go and do likewise. He would have to be like the hated Samaritan. He would have to admit that the example of loving one’s neighbor would be a loathsome half-breed. All that in answering Jesus’ question.

Jesus was a master question-answerer. Zach and Allison Zehnder founded the Red Letter Challenge, and in November of 2022 posted The 305 Questions Jesus Asked with One Shocking Discovery. I’d say Jesus was good at asking questions. And framing them. In other words asked questions that would challenge people, invite people to reconsider their place in God’s kingdom, and bring comfort to those who looked to him.

In this case Jesus was asking who acted like a neighbor in order to get the lawyer out of the loophole looking paradigm and see how God’s love is to be shared with all kinds and sorts of people. Even syncretistic foreigners.

Jesus, however, didn’t ask questions about how we are to treat one another. He was clear, direct, and unwavering in His command to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Go and do likewise. No question here. Just go and love like God has loved you.