In Matthew 22:35-40, Jesus is questioned as to what the greatest commandment in the Law is, and his response was to give two that he viewed as equal. The first was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the other was to love your neighbor as yourself. When we look at the ten commandments that were given to Moses, all ten of them can be summed up in these two commandments. The issue is, what does it look like to love your neighbor as yourself? This is what a lot of people struggle with when it comes to living a Christian lifestyle.
To start with let us see how Jesus himself lived out this command. Jesus would go from city to city and would heal the sick and help those who were in need. When we look at Jesus, we don’t see him collecting money from people for these services. These were things that he was willing to do without expecting anything from the people that he was helping. Jesus shows us a willingness to help people that cannot help themselves. This should be a way of life for the people that follow Jesus because there are still people around who need help. While we cannot do miracles today, we can still help as much as we can to show people the love that God has shown us.
Jesus also showed how to love your neighbor as yourself by visiting places and people that others hated. When we look at John 4, we can see Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman who would have been despised by other Jews. The Samaritans were a group of people who shared some Israelite descent but were mixed in their heritage according to 2 Kings 17:24-41. The Jews hated them because they claimed to be from Jewish heritage, but they were not worshiping God the way that He commanded. Jesus not only talked to this woman and her village, but he also ate with tax collectors and many other of the less reputable people in the cities. This was something that the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day would point out as to why he was not a good person to be around. Jesus showed care and compassion for all people no matter what mistakes they had made in the past or what their heritage was.
The biggest way that Jesus lived out this command was by allowing himself to be crucified for the sins of the world. Jesus had the power to not allow himself to be put on that cross, but he was humble enough and loved the people of this world enough that he would do so. This is what Paul is talking about in Philippians 2:8 when he says, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Paul is talking about people being humble in the same way that Jesus was humble while he was here on the earth. Jesus was humble enough that he thought other people’s sins were more important than his comfort. This is something that we should look at and understand is an example for us to follow.
When we see our neighbors, although neighbors may seem too narrow of a term, we should see souls that need help. We should see people who are image-bearers of the Lord. We should treat them in the same way that we would expect to be treated and love them the same way that we would expect to be loved by those around us. Because we have the example of Jesus and we have the love that God has shown us, we should extend that same thing to those who are around us. We must love our neighbors so that they will see the love that God has shown us.
Bible Minutes 