Skip to main content

Neighbors

           You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16-17)

 “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.” (Luke 10:36-37)

 

          We started with God. We moved to parents. Today, we meet the third specific target of the commandments: our neighbors. Specifically, we aren’t to tell lies about them and we aren’t to covet – or yearn to possess – anything our neighbor has. While God is the foundational person within the Ten Commandments, not lying about one’s neighbor and not yearning for what someone else has may be the foundational concepts.

          If you don’t desire your neighbor’s spouse, you aren’t likely to commit adultery. If you don’t desire you neighbor’s servants, pets, vehicles, or anything your neighbor has, you won’t be as likely to give false testimony, not as likely to steal, not as likely to murder your neighbor. This could be the logic behind Jesus’s proclamations that those who lust after (yearn after, desire) a woman have committed adultery, and those who hate have committed murder. The desire precedes the action.

          Of course, the next question to be addressed is who our neighbor is. When Jesus asked who the neighbor was in the parable of the Good Samaritan, they told Him it was the one who helped the poor man. They couldn’t even bring themselves to say “the Samaritan,” but they were right, the neighbor was the one who helped, regardless of his affiliations. As one friend has put it, our neighbor is the person we trip over as we go about our day. But, that only answers the question in one direction. When we are in need, our neighbor is the one who helps us. What happens when we are not the one in need? Would not, then, our neighbor be whoever was? The person who was robbed, and therefore, the very person we want to rob of whatever it is we covet?

          And if the coveting leads to lying, adultery, theft, and murder, is it not also what leads to dishonoring parents and violating all the commands given about God?  Was it not the cause of the sin in the garden (“You shall be like God...”)?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more