We had a guest speaker at church this past Sunday, Dr. Joseph Stowell. He preached on rekindling our first love, that is the love of Christ. It was a good sermon, but what hit me, probably because I’m a linguist and anytime something about language is mentioned, my ears prick up, he said that in Biblical Hebrew, the meaning of neighbor is everyone. I looked it up in Thayers Greek Lexicon and the Biblical Greek word is plesion. It states, “…according to the O. T. and Jewish conception, a member of the Hebrew race and commonwealth….” It goes on to say, “…according to the teaching of Christ, any other man irrespective of race or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet….” We are used to thinking about loving our neighbor, that is people we hang out with, or even acquaintances. However, to mean a stranger we just happen to rub shoulders with, gives a whole other meaning to Jesus’ words, “Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 19:19).”
Jesus as Teacher
As a trained educator, I’m fascinated with Jesus’ teaching style. He is the master of taking traditional thinking and breathing in new life and insight. Here Jesus took the Jewish concept of neighbor, meaning anyone who is of the Jewish community, and broadened it to mean all mankind. I know this is not a new concept to us, but when you really think of the application of what Jesus taught, it is so mind-boggling what a rebel He was. No wonder he made the Pharisees, Saducees, priests and rabbis so angry. He made them face their own misconceptions of who God is and what He desires for all people.
As we read the Bible today, Jesus is still teaching us. We need to read the Bible with an open mind, asking God for His wisdom and understanding as we read. Oftentimes, Jesus is still making us face our own misconceptions we have about Him, who His father is, and what Their purpose for our lives are. Really, as we read Jesus’ Words, we are being taught by the greatest teacher that ever lived. I’m blown away!
The Stranger as Neighbor
In ancient days, the stranger you happened to meet was someone walking along the road, or riding a donkey, or someone at the market. But today, who is your neighbor? If we continue with the definition of a stranger you happen to meet, it means; the guy in the car behind you tailgating you, the woman who cut you off in traffic, the grandmother at the superstore who is going at a snail’s pace in the middle of the aisle who you can’t pass, the telemarketer on the phone, the person on Facebook who is always complaining, the toxic ‘friend’, the person in your online group who is usually argumentative, and the person in your class who just loves to hear him/herself talk, but doesn’t really say anything. Our neighbor is anyone we may have a contact with in our daily lives. We may not have physical eye-to-eye contact with the person, but we have some sort of interaction.
(Since I am a four-legged, furry baby mama, I also want to add that our neighbor is also animals that cross our paths. We are to love all of God’s creations.)
How Do We Love our Neighbor?
Jesus never said we need to like our neighbor, but He did say we need to love him/her. So what does it actually mean to love our neighbor? Jesus tells us plainly, we should love our neighbor as ourselves. What do we do to love ourselves? We take care of ourselves by eating when we are hungry, sleeping when we are tired, and doing something ever so often that we enjoy. In basic terms, we need to make sure others are taken care of physically, mentally and spiritually. We also need to give them something to enjoy. This could simply be a smile, a thumbs up emoji in a text, a word of encouragement, or a book that you found interesting, the list goes on. The important thing is to live a life that shows God’s love to everyone you come in contact with – Everyone!
Reference
BibleHub. 2004-2020. https://biblehub.com/greek/4139.htm. Retrieved on August,12,2020.
