The one who stopped

A man is bleeding on the road, and a priest is stepping around him.

A lawyer has asked Jesus who his neighbor is, hoping for a boundary. Jesus answers with the steep road down to Jericho, where robbers wait. A traveler is beaten and left half dead. A priest passes by on the other side. So does a Levite.

Then a Samaritan comes, one of the people the listeners despise. He comes near. He binds the wounds, pouring on oil and wine, sets the man on his own animal, and brings him to an inn.

In the morning he pays the innkeeper, and promises to come back. Mercy here has a cost, in oil, wine, time, money, and risk. And it has a schedule.

Jesus does not answer the question. He turns it around: who proved neighbor to the man who fell among robbers? Go and do likewise. Choose one work of mercy with a name, a time, and a cost, and do it this week.

Lord Jesus, You came near when I was left on the road. Teach me to stop, to bind what I can, and to come back. Make me a neighbor to the one I would rather pass by. Amen.