Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 10:25
“What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?” He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:26-27
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5
Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:18
“You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”
Luke 10:28
He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
Matthew 22:37-40
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10:29
Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’
Luke 10:30-35
“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
Luke 10:36
“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
Luke 10:37
Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
Matthew 9:13
We cannot merely love God and dismiss our neighbor.
In the Gospel, there is room to love our enemies.
The supreme ethic of Christ-centered love breaks down all division and walls of hostility.
