The greatest teacher in the world was cornered by an expert to test him for the depth of his knowledge and to see if his knowledge was deep enough in his own area of expertise. The question he pushed to this teacher was deep and thought-provoking. Teacher, he quipped, “what shall a man do to inherit eternal life?”
The greatest teacher in the world didn’t answer this question outrightly but showed the dexterity that great teachers already know, that questions are the answers. It is not only sufficient to be asked a question; the teacher must discern the purpose of the question and the context of it and be able to answer not only what is asked but what the student intended to solve with the answer. The teacher asked the questioner what his own interpretation of it was. The expert answered that the law, in summary, is a love for God with all our faculties and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
The expert possibly knew that this law had a loophole. I could consistently refuse to help people because I can judge them, not my neighbour. The next logical request to this great teacher – Jesus, was, “who then is my neighbour?”
The teacher responded by telling a story of a man who was beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite, who were supposed to be religious leaders and kinsmen to the wounded, saw the man and passed by on the other side of the road. But a Samaritan, who was despised by the Jews, stopped and took care of the man. He bandaged his wounds, put him on his own donkey, and took him to an inn where he paid for his care and even put in a deposit, and a commitment to return should the bill exceed what he imagined.
The lesson from this story is that love is the key to eternal life. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, no matter who they are. Our neighbors are not just the people who are like us or who live near us, but anyone who needs our help. We are called to show compassion and kindness to everyone, even those who are different from us or who we may not like.
The story of the Good Samaritan also shows us that love requires action. It’s not enough to just say that we love someone; we must show it through our actions. The Samaritan didn’t just feel sorry for the man on the side of the road, he stopped and took action to help him.
I perceive that the Samaritan was on a challenge. A loving challenge. The Good Samaritan probably had a goal orientation and went out that day looking for opportunities for goodness, generosity, serving others, and being grateful. This is how Jesus would have us live our lives every day.
In conclusion, the story of the Good Samaritan teaches us that love is the key to eternal life. We are called to love our neighbours as ourselves and to show that love through our actions. We must be willing to help anyone who is in need, no matter who they are, and treat them with compassion and kindness. If we do this well, we don’t need to die to have eternal life. The life we will begin to live in the here and now will be eternal.
Kind Regards,
Adeolu Akinyemi.
