No Loopholes
”And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” Luke 10:25-29
As you read this passage, the lawyer clearly knew the Law, but poses a question to obtain clarification about who his neighbor is. On the surface, the lawyer’s question (“And who is my neighbor?”) seems innocent, but he was trying to justify himself. It appears he was trying to divide who he must love or not love. Who he had to care for, and who he did not. It seems he was trying to find a loophole in what he had to do to inherit eternal life.
As you continue to read this passage Jesus tells the parable about the good Samaritan and uses this story to answer thelawyer’s question. Jesus discusses how a Samaritan compassionately and devotedly cared for an injured Jew on the side of a road. The fact is Samaritans and Jews were adversaries and did not care for each other. It would have been justified and culturally acceptable for the Samaritan to ignore the injured Jew and just walk by. But in this story, the Samaritan did as the Law directed, and he loved his neighbor (fellow man) as himself. He answered the lawyer’s question through his character.
Jesus’ taught truth and emphasized there is no loophole to justify one’s character. Just because the world said it is normal and suitable, does not make it acceptable to Yahweh. He has called us to live as Christ, and not be entangled with worldly norms. Do we seek loopholes when it comes to the things directed by Holy Spirit? Or with the instructions Yahweh gives us in His Word? Do we embrace cultural norms and try to justify theminto our lives? Do we speak and act like the world, and claim to be a follower of Christ? These are some hard questions, but there are no loopholes when it comes to the things of Yahweh. There is the Truth, and then there is compromise.
So, as you start your day, do a self-inventory, and consider your life, and be truthful and see if there are any loophole entangled in there. Are we trying to justify our behavior, or are we being transformed to be as Christ.