Who Is My Neighbor?

Remember, the often-repeated error with this section of the Sermon on the Mount is that Jesus was establishing a kinder and more spiritual replacement of the law given on Mount Sinai. Rather, Jesus restored the correct intention of the law by rectifying the errors of the Jewish teachers. The last sections (vv. 38–20, retaliation and loving your enemies) correct the errors of the scribes and Pharisees pertaining to how one responds to his enemies.

Lest we should be too hard on these teachers, we need to be reminded that we are all very prone to interpret the words of Scripture to agree with our own prejudice. We also need to understand the rabbis’ perspective. The theology of Judaism at the time of Christ was shaped by the Jews’ reaction to Gentile treatment from the time of the Babylonian Captivity. It is not difficult to sympathize with their deep-seated dislike of those who treated them so badly. However, nowhere in Moses does “hate your enemy” appear as either stated or implied. That concept was twisted out of Leviticus 19:18: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” The Jews read neighbor to equate with “sons of your own people.” Those who were not “of your own people” were exempt from the command. If such people did harm, hate and retaliate would be a proper response.

This insight is supported by the lawyer’s response to Jesus in Luke 10. He had asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life (v. 25). Jesus answered by asking him what was written in the law and how he understood it. The man rightly answered by giving the twofold summation of the law, to love the Lord and your neighbor. Jesus agreed and affirmed, “Do this and you will live” (v. 28).

The lawyer, knowing his personal failure which led to the original question, but unwilling to humble himself in the matter, sought justification by asking, “who is my neighbor?” (v. 29). The rabbis restricted the term to refer only to those related to them or, even more specifically, to those of their own party. The Old Testament defined the term more broadly. Generally speaking, a neighbor was anyone with whom one had some contact. Thus, a neighbor was any fellow creature made in the image of God. These qualify as those who are to be loved [cared for] as one does for himself. “When a stranger [foreigner] sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:33, 34). This includes not only those with whom we get along but, as Jesus develops here, “Love your enemies . . . so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44, 45).