Question for today: How do we so adore and worship a homeless man on Sunday, and then divert our eyes (perhaps even contemptuously) from a homeless man on Monday?
Matthew 25:42 [And Jesus later said] … “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, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.”
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
Luke 10:25 On [another] occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" Jesus replied. "How do you read it?" [What a GREAT interactive teacher!]
The man answered: "'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, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live.”
[The man should have stopped when he was doing so well] But the man [was a proud lawyer who] wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
In reply Jesus said:
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
[Re-read the Luke 10 passage, above, and note Jesus’ Masterful, brilliant, sleight-of-hand magic trick: Who ever notices that Jesus changes the lawyer’s question from “Who is my neighbor?” to “How can I become a neighbor?”]
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