A Third-Mile Christian
Under Roman law, any official of the state or the army could draft any citizen into service for the moment – but not more than one mile out of the way. Jesus alludes to this law in Matthew 5:41: “if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” Simon of Cyrene was compeled to carry Jesus’ cross. In Matthew 5:41, Jesus asks us to do the extra for one another. To be ready to sacrifice time and energy to be helpful to those who are in need. The Christian ought not to take a yard stick and say, “Here ends the mile. I will go no further.”
To illustrate this same principle, in Luke 10:25-29, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan with which we are quite familiar. When asked what the two greatest commandments were, by a lawyer wanting to excuse his own racial prejudice, Jesus responded that the second was: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
To answer the next question the lawyer proposed: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus gives us the story of the Samaritan. The road to Jericho was about 18 miles of mostly desolate mountainous terrain. By the time of the great biblical scholar, Jerome, in the 4th century, it was known as the “Bloody Way.” The priest and the Levite walked by on the other side.
The Samaritan – the last individual expected to be “good” by Jesus’ audience – began his act of kindness in his heart. The text says when he saw the injured man, he “had compassion” (10:33). That’s where Christianity starts – in the heart. This compassion led the Samaritan to act like a Christian – he “bound up his wounds.” Being a “good neighbor” is a self-evident behavior. If you see a need, you fill it.
However, it is the teacher’s job along with the parents’ full cialis pharmacy prices co-operation, to make each of them feel special and comfortable with their own selves and develop their abilities to grow up as individuals with their own discomfort and damaging behaviour. Combine these exercises viagra without buy prescription with sex boosting foods to feel the difference in your sexual power. Eggs: It is one of the best viagra cheap canada sources of protein that can be easily assimilated by body. This herb has antioxidant properties order cheap viagra and helps in digestion, rejuvenates respiratory system and prevents frequent urination.
The Samaritan continued his act of compassion by going the second mile. He took time out of his day and schedule to load the injured man on his own animal and brought him to the inn. There, he took care of him. That is “second-mile” Christianity. If Jesus had stopped there, we would be impressed with the Samaritans compassion, his concern, and his interest. We would have said, “You did well.”
But then the Samaritan went one step further than even that. The next day, he told the inn keeper, “Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back,” giving him two denarii. That’s two days’ wages. Equivalent of a few hundred dollars. It would have paid for basic room and board for about two weeks. The good Samaritan went the third mile. It is obvious that his eye, his heart, his hand, and his foot as well as his wallet were all subservient to the law and expectations of God.
There are two sides of the road – the side of indifference and apathy and the side of compassion and service. Which side of the road are you traveling?
–Paul Holland
