Musing – Who is My Neighbor?

 

Hebraic Musing – Who is My Neighbor?

When God gave us the command to love our neighbor, which definition was He using?  According to Webster
   (1) one living or located near another;       (2)  FELLOW MAN (per Matt.19:19 KJV)
So even the dictionary recognizes that a neighbor is more than “the guy next door.”  Our neighbor is “Fellow Man” or a fellow being!  That’s a much more encompassing definition.

In the OT, respect for our neighbor is stressed in two well-known commandments.   “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.  You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Deut.5:20-21 NIV   

And Leviticus 19:18 warns us “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” 

And Proverbs 14:21 tells us “He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.” 

BTW How we treat our neighbor must be important to God since he references or relationship to our neighbor(s) over 100 times; and most of those relationship mentions are in the OT!

In the NT, Jesus had to remind a “teacher of the law” that the most important command, is the “Sh’ma” from Dt.6:4  which is recited at least daily.  “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mk 12:29-30  But Jesus continued with a statement summarizing the second half of the “Ten Commandments”   “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these.”  That raises a challenging question – How much do we love ourselves?

Upon hearing this, the “teacher of the law” summarized Jesus’ words -“To love him (God) with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  Mk.12:33   He recognized the importance of loving your neighbor! 

And the authors of the epistles also understood.  Here’s just a sampling:

·      Romans 15:1-2 “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.  Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”

·      Galatians 5:13-14  “…serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

·      Ephesians 4:25  “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”

·      James 1:8  “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”  you are doing right.”

Have we answered these two questions?   Who is my neighbor?  How much does God love my neighbor?

Points to ponder

When you pray for names on your prayer list, are you loving your neighbor?

Where do your neighbors live?

Are we to treat our family as we do our neighbors?   
and/or     Are we to love our neighbors as we do our family?

♫ Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world. Red & yellow, black (brown*) & white,
            They are precious in his sight. Jesus cares for all the children of the world. ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      July 27, 2021
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”  Weekly “Hebraic Musings”   insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com/

*   Our Filipino fellowship always added “brown” to the lyrics.