Caught!

Luke 10:29

The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Bob’s mom had just made his favorite, oatmeal raisin cookies. His mom placed the cookie jar on the counter and told Bob, “You can have one later.” Knowing he should be obedient, Bob instead climbed on one of the kitchen chairs and crawled his way onto the counter. He had just opened the lid, smelling the delicious aroma of oatmeal raisin cookies when his mom came in.

Bob, caught with his hand in the cookie jar, tried to justify his caper, saying, “I was just conducting a rigorous taste test to ensure the cookies met the highest quality standards! It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!” Once the spanking was over, Bob had time to reflect on his poor choices…

The lawyer who approached Jesus in today’s passage was caught, just like Bob. He wanted to appear holy, but not actually be holy. When Jesus mentioned “love your neighbor as yourself,” he looked for a loophole. The parable of the Good Samaritan forced the lawyer to admit that everybody was his neighbor. Rather than narrowing the scope of the command, like he hoped, Jesus expanded it.

How many times have we tried to justify ourselves before God? We weren’t stealing a cookie; we were doing quality control. We weren’t being self-righteous; we were just trying to explore what Jesus “really” meant.

Just like the lawyer, we find out that trying to justify ourselves never works. Quit trying to find a loophole, just obey!

Today’s Readings: Genesis 25,26; Psalm 6; Luke 10

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