What does it mean to Love your Neighbor?

God commands us to Love God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength, and to Love our Neighbor as ourselves. Jesus said that every other law and rule in the Bible hangs on these two things. If you love God and you love your neighbor then you will follow everything else naturally. So what does love your neighbor mean? Who is your neighbor? Someone asked Jesus this very question. Jesus chose one of the most hated person he could think about and then told the story of the Good Samaritan. In this episode, I tell about this story. But then I will go to the Old Testament to show you where "love your neighbor" comes from originally and that it means so much more than people think. Loving your neighbor doesn't just mean a feeling or praying about them, it means protecting them. 

Great commandment
Matthew 22:34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless, they met together. 35 One of them, a legal expert, tested him. 36 “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Loving your neighbor
25 A legal expert stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to gain eternal life?”

26 Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it?”

27 He responded, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”[a]

28 Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”

29 But the legal expert wanted to prove that he was right, so he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. 31 Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 32 Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 33 A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34 The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ 36 What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?”

37 Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Leviticus 19:16-18 
ESV
16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.


CEB
16 Do not go around slandering your people. Do not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed; I am the Lord. 17 You must not hate your fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your fellow Israelite strongly, so you don’t become responsible for his sin. 18 You must not take revenge nor hold a grudge against any of your people; instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Welcome to the Real Bible Rob teencast. Do you love your neighbor? Do you know what it means to say that? God commands us to love God with all of our hearts, mind, soul, and strength, and also to love our neighbor as ourselves. You've probably heard that, but you have to wonder why is that so important and why are these two commandments given to us? Jesus said that every other law, no matter what, and every other rule in the Bible, or any other rule that we should have should hang on these two commandments, loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. And if you do these two things, you'll do everything else naturally. You will follow every other rule, every other law naturally. So what does loving your neighbor really mean then? And who is your neighbor? Well, Jesus actually got that question. Somebody asked him, Who is my neighbor? And he tells them the story about the Good Samaritan. So you may have heard about the Good Samaritan too. Um, and he thought of Jesus thought of the most hated person that these people he was talking to uh, and that was Samaritan people. So just think about your situation. Think about the people you really have a heart the hardest time with. You know, is it another um group of people at school? Is it are there, is it some bullies somewhere? Is it um, you know, people of different from different countries or different uh languages or um or or so forth. Just think of that person you just don't like the most just because of who they are, and Jesus would choose that person to tell you, consider them your neighbor. And uh that's what he did in this story, too. So I want to tell you a little bit about some of the um Bible verses behind this and where these stories come from, and then I want to say one more thing. Where does this love your neighbor stuff come from? Because it wasn't Jesus that said that the first time. No, it comes from much before Jesus in the Old Testament, and um it comes from a very interesting place. Now, some people have said, oh, well, loving my neighbor is you know having thoughts and prayers for them, right? That maybe that's good enough. But no, in the in the Bible and even in the Old Testament, it says it's not just about having good thoughts about them or good feelings about them or praying for them. It means protecting them and it comes very, very early. So I'm gonna tell you about two different types of Bibles because that's important for you when you're kind of choosing what kind of Bible, if you're gonna go out and get one. I talked about that in my first episode uh of the of this uh um podcast. I talked about what kind of Bible you should get. Well, I'll I'll give you a really great example using this, okay? So let's start. Um, the first thing is uh uh Jesus says, and this is Matthew 22, and the Pharisees, you know, these are the people who were um, you know, the religious leaders at the time, and they were giving Jesus a hard time. And we read a lot about that in the um in the stories about Jesus, that uh these religious leaders, you know, we would think of them uh now they they call them Pharisees, but we would think them of them today like pastors or youth leaders or um maybe politicians who talk a lot about elect uh about uh religion. And they were they it's just kind of like that. They were giving Jesus a hard time, and one of them, who was also a legal expert, meaning like a lawyer, tested Jesus and said, Teacher, Jesus, what is the greatest commandment in the law? And he wanted to see, you know, was Jesus going to pick one of those old laws from you know the old testament? There are 613 of them. He could have chosen any one of them. And Jesus said, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all of your mind, and all of your strength. And this is the first and greatest commandment. Nobody would disagree with that, right, in that in that uh culture, and go, Oh, yeah, okay, good, Jesus. And then he would say, and the second one is this you must love your neighbor as yourself, all of the law and all of the prophets who spoke about the law depend on these two commandments to love God and to love your neighbor. Isn't that interesting? So he goes, Um, then uh he sp said this, so then another time we don't know if it's the same person, maybe it is the same lawyer or the same expert who says, Okay, well then Jesus, uh what must I do to gain eternal life? And he's kind of saying, Maybe he's taking it that next step. You've told me the two commandments, right? Do I just do those commandments? What does it mean? And uh, and then he he he says, uh, then I will tell you who your neighbor is. And then he starts so and this legal expert says, Well, then okay, you've told me everything. Who is my neighbor? And Jesus then tells the story. And now, you know, of course, Jesus told a lot of things in stories, and the Good Samaritan is one story that is so uh important because it tells us so much about um what it means to love your neighbor, and it also tells us about who Jesus was and his character and what who God is. So he tells the story about a man who goes from Jerusalem, was which is way up in the mountains, about 2,000, 2,500 feet above sea level, way up in the mountains, down to Jericho, which is below sea level, way down below. It's about 4,000 feet. Can you imagine that? You know, kind of like if you've ever gone on a long hike and you've seen uh, you know, a mountain that's 4,000 feet high, that's a long way. And it was a dangerous road that this man was walking on. And there were thieves, you know, there were people that would, you know, wait along the side of the road and they would steal his steal your money, you know. So this man was going from Jerusalem way up high down to Jericho, and he um and he got beat up. Um, you know, and these thieves came and they stole his money, they stole everything he did, and they just threw the man all beaten up, broken, to the side of the road. And then um a religious leader went by and said, Um, noticed him, but did nothing, just walked by. Then another uh person saw him and walked on the other side of the road, avoided the man. And then finally, this other man named who was a Samaritan and a Samaritan where they were their enemies. They were the enemies of the Jewish people that Jesus was talking to. So remember, Jesus chose the one kind of person that they would not like the most. So think about the person you don't like the most. Is it a bully? Is it um you know, somebody who's really mean? Is it somebody who's really annoying? Um, think about that person. And that person, like the Samaritan, goes up to the man, he takes care of the man, he picks him up, he gives them, he takes care of his wounds, put bandages on his wounds, he takes them um on his on his donkey and takes him to a hotel and tells the owner of the hotel, here, here, I'm gonna pay for this man's um lodging, you know, for two days, two nights. I want you to take care of him. So here, I'm gonna give you some money and you take care of him. And if if he needs anything, just go ahead and give it to him, and I'll pay for that when I come back in two days. Okay? Well, can you do that for me? And of course, the the uh the person, the owner of the hotel goes, Yeah, sure, I'll take care of that, I'll do that for you. And um then Jesus asks, so he tells this wonderful story, and then he asked the lawyer, he said, Um, who was the one of the three men? There were two men that walked by and the this good and the Samaritan. Who was the one that showed the most mercy, who loved the man who was beaten up the most? And of course, the uh the lawyer said, Well, yeah, it was the the the man who showed mercy, the it was the Samaritan man. And Jesus says, That's what I mean by who your neighbor is. Do likewise, do what that guy did. Such a great story. So think about that for yourself as well. So if this bully or this person you don't like, um is uh think of them doing a good act, think of them being really kind to somebody, maybe you do see that. Then you go, uh, okay, maybe I need to love that person too. Even though that person uh is not very lovable or that person is not very kind, at least love them for who they are. That doesn't mean to excuse them, that doesn't mean that you say, oh, if their bad behavior, their bad feelings are are good. No, no, it doesn't mean that at all. But it just means to love them as a human being and realize that, you know, they have troubles, their own troubles. Uh, maybe if you're kind to them, maybe they'll be kind back, maybe they'll change their mind, maybe they won't be so annoying, maybe they won't be so mean. You know, at least do that. So that's what Jesus is saying. That's why I love this story. And you see the good Samaritan all over the place, right? It's such a great story for a reason. Now, there's a couple things I want you to notice about the story, too. Can you imagine that the men who walked by, the man who was beaten? So that was uh one of them is a you know, like a religious leader. He didn't want to get his hands dirty, right? Well, you know, that person who walked by, you might think, oh, what a terrible guy that is. Well, if he was a priest or something like that, he wouldn't want to touch the Samaritan man because in his world, touching that man would make him unclean. That means that he couldn't go into the temple to pray. So if he's walking to Jerusalem, he may be walking to Jerusalem to pray, to go to the temple. And they had these um laws, these purity laws, where they uh didn't want to become unclean. So maybe this religious man, this priest that walked by, where the Samaritan man, maybe he did have compassion because and he maybe he prayed. He said, Well, God, please take care of this man, but I'm not gonna touch him. I'm just gonna go on. I'm just gonna walk by. I'm gonna go to the other side of the road because he's unclean. I can't be unclean. You'll understand, right, God? He may have done that. See, he may have not been as mean as we think he is, but what he does is he just walks by because his um purity, his uh is more important than the the well-being, the man who was beaten up to it. So is that loving your neighbor just walking by, praying for them, having we often hear this sometimes when we hear about school shootings, right? Sometimes, you know, and I know that many of you have um are scared because of um, you know, people with guns coming into your school and and you know, and you have to go through these drills and you have to learn how to protect yourself and all of that. It's a terrible thing, right? But a lot of times, instead of doing something about it, people who are politicians and people who are parent, you know, are parents and you know, people in society, they just say, Well, we have many thoughts and prayers for the people who were hurt or killed. Can you see that how that's like the man just walking by? They say, I have thoughts and prayers for you, but I'm not gonna do anything about changing things or protecting you. That's exactly what happened here. So what what is this and where does this come from? Clearly, Jesus is saying, No, it's not good enough just to pray or to have good feelings. You have to do something, you have to take care of people, you have to protect them. That's who your neighbor is. Well, this comes from the Old Testament. Jesus is quoting both of these. He's saying, Um, love your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And that comes from um a book in the Old Testament called Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy six uh um four through six, uh, where Jesus quotes that uh um Deuteronomy four or six, five through six, sorry. And then this other one is love your neighbor as yourself. And this comes from Leviticus, another book in the Old Testament, Leviticus 19, Leviticus 19, 18. And by itself, it just says, Um, don't take revenge, don't hold a grudge against any other people. Instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself. Very clear, right? But what does that mean to love your neighbor as yourself? Well, this is where you have to go back a couple of verses before that, and this also tells you a lot about what kind of Bible you should buy. Because one version of the Bible that's very popular today, um kind of says thoughts and prayers are good enough in these verses, and another version of the Bible, which I like a lot more, says you got to do something. So let's start with the one that's very popular, and that's called the ESV. That's the English Standard Version. So you may have this in your church, you may have heard about it, and many, many people have the ESV Bible, and it's a good version of the Bible, but it has some problems, and I think it has a very big problem in Leviticus 19, 16 through 18. And it starts with um saying, You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. Okay, we understand what that means. That means don't down talk, don't say bad things about other people, and we can agree with that. And you shall not stand against the life of your neighbor, I am the Lord, it says. Stand against your neighbor. Um, it sometimes says you should not hurt your neighbor, you shall not jeopardize, if you know what that word means. Um, it you should not hurt your neighbor, and that's a good message, right? The only problem is that in the Hebrew, which this comes from, it doesn't mean just uh go against your neighbor, it means something more active. It doesn't mean just you know, stand back and pray for your neighbor, it means something more active. And then it then uh and a few uh verses later, it says, You shall not take vengeance or take a bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you should love your neighbor as yourself. Um and and that's good too. But I I think that this version is too uh distant. It's like I said, it's more like that priest who walks by the um the the person who is beat up on the road and not helping them. It's just saying, don't hurt him. But the I think a much better translation from Hebrew is from my favorite version that um I think you should consider getting. It's called the Common English Bible C E B. And it says, Um, this is Leviticus 19, 16. Do not go around slandering your people. Okay? Then it says, Do not stand by while your neighbor's blood is shed. In other words, it's not just that don't hurt your neighbor. It says, Don't even stand back when somebody else is hurting your neighbor. It means do something. Take protect your neighbor, take care of them. And then later on it says, you must not take revenge or hold a grudge against any of your people. Instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself. And that's good too, right? But you see how this small difference makes a huge difference in meaning. The the ESV says don't don't stand up against the life of your neighbor. That means don't hurt your neighbor, don't beat 'em up, don't beat 'em, don't do bad things to them. But it says nothing about protecting your neighbor if somebody else is beating up on your neighbor. Whereas the CEB, which I think is much closer to what the original Hebrew says, says, Don't stand by while your neighbor's blood is being shed. Don't stand back. If somebody's beating up your that man, go in and and and protect that man. Or like the good Samaritan does, and this is what Jesus was thinking. So he knew these verses. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said these verses, right? So Jesus knew these verses. Jesus knew that um in Leviticus it says, not just to not hurt your neighbor, but you should protect your neighbor. You should, when your neighbor has been uh uh beaten up or stolen from or whatever, to go in and take care of them, to give them bandages, to pay the uh the the hotel people, to to give them food, do you know, to take care of it. One you see, one is just you know standing back and being passive, and the other one's being active, doing something. So it's right here in the Bible. So you can see that the the kind of Bible you get really can change the way you think about it. Now, I think the reason why people have done this is they um sometimes Christians will say, I need to be very active and do things in the community. I need to change the laws, I need to um protest, I need to do those things. That's a very active way of taking care of other people. Other time other Christians will say, No, let God take care of it. I will pray for them. I will, you know, I'm very concerned about their soul and their salvation and all of that, but it's not my job to go and change the laws and protest for people and protect them in that same way. I may give them you know some money and take care of it, but it it's one, it's standing back a little bit, right? Well, the that's what's shown here is that there is that difference in what it means for some people to be a Christian or to be a person of faith. And I think that when you really look at the language and you really look at the Bible closely, it's showing, and especially when Jesus talks about it, is that it's showing that you should be more active, you should do more to protect people. Whether, like I said, whether that's protesting, uh, the um changing the law, um taking care of individual people, um, doing all of these things. We have to be more of a community taking care of taking care of people, taking care of our neighbors. So that's what this is really all about. There's more meaning in this than just uh than just being a good person. You've you've got to be a good person and you've got to do something about it. That's what God is asking you to do. That's what Jesus is is saying that you do. Is that yeah, sure. Pray for them. Take care, you know, pray for them and have thoughts about them and um say nice things, but also do what you can to support and help people too. So with that, I just say thank you so much for listening. Um, I hope that this was useful for you. Um, and you know, take a look at these things. Like I said, and get a good good translation of the Bible if you can. Uh, it helps, uh, especially a good study Bible, one that has good notes in it. It'll really help you to understand it better. And my favorite one is the CEB study bible, if you can get one of those. So, uh, with that, I say uh God bless you, and thank you so much for listening.