Week 11 : Goodness : A virtue to adopt

Read: Luke 10:25-37

On day Jesus spoke of the importance of goodness after an expert in the Law asked him what he needed to do in order to live forever. The man was referred back to the Law. Jesus was quite keen to know how the man himself interpreted the teachings found in the Scriptures because he felt this man must have been very knowledgeable about the topic.  

The expert told Jesus, in his opinion, there were two things you needed to do in order to gain eternal life. First of all, you needed to love God totally. And second, you had to love those around you as much as you loved yourself. Jesus agreed with what this expert had to say and he told him he would receive life eternal if he did both of these two things.

Now the expert had no problem at all with the first task because the fact that he in love with God could not be disputed. After all, his extensive knowledge of the Scriptures was proof enough of this great love. However, he desperately hoped this alone was enough for him to life forever in the presence of God because he had no love for foreigners.  

Jesus seemed to under this because he then went on and told a parable about a Jewish man who was attacked by robbers. Both a priest and a righteous Jew walked past the wounded man without helping him before, finally, a Samaritan "took pity on him". He helped to man by cleaning and bandaging his wounds before taking him to a wayside inn.

The Lord then asked the expert in the Law who he though had acted in a neighbourly fashion to the man who had been attacked. The expert agreed it had not been his countrymen who had helped the injured fellow, but a stranger from a foreign land. This Samaritan had shown his goodness by stopping to give first aid to a man who he didn't even know.  

From this parable you can see how showing mercy to those are in need is an essential part of the Law. It is actually one of the prerequisites for being granted eternal life when Jesus returns to judge the quick and the dead at the end of time. Not only will your love of God be taken into account, but so too will your love of mankind, your endless compassion.

Always remember that when Moses said he wanted to see the glory of God, he was told, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." That is how God reveals Himself to friends and neighbours alike.

Pray: Jesus. Help me to be a good person lie this Samaritan so I can show goodness to those in need around me. Amen.