We're all familiar with with the parable of the Good Samaritan, right? A religious man after asking how he could inherit eternal life hears Jesus respond with, "Love God and Love your neighbor". And in response the man asks, "Who is my neighbor?". What he was really asking is, "Who is pure?" which was really a question of, "Who is worthy of Love?". And so responding to this deeper issue Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. What we miss is that in this story the Priest and Levite who pass by the beaten man weren't cold hearted toward the man as we usually think. They were passionate about follow the Torah which said NOT to touch dead people or they would breach their purity. The only corpes they could touch were close family all others would cuase impurity even if they got so close that their shadow touched it. So, they crossed to the other side of the road to follow their love for the Torah. What Jesus reveals is that out of their love for the Torah they have missed the point! This was a Torah OF love!
So here's the question: If we are to love God and love others, Jesus is asking his audience, what happens when love-of-God-as-obeying-Torah comes into conflict with love-of-God-as-following-Jesus That's a tough one, for all of us. But for Jesus the answer is clear: Loving God properly always means that we will tend to the needs of others.
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