Who Is My Neighbor?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these (Mark 12:30-31).

Jesus says love your neighbor.

Okay … but who is my neighbor?

According to Jason Vanderground, president of BrandHaven, the creative agency behind the $100 Million “He gets us” campaign and controversial commercials aired during Super Bowls LVII and LVIII, the answer is, “the person who you hoped it wasn’t.”

Swish that around for a moment.

The person who you hoped it wasn’t. What an uncomplicated but completely profound thought. On that note, let’s take a look at the parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37

“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

‘What is written in the Law?’ he replied. ‘How do you read it?’

He answered, ‘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 love your neighbor as yourself.’

^‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied. ‘Do this and you will live.’

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’

 In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

^‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’

The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’

Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”

Samaritans and Jews hated each other, plain and simple. Animosity that dated all the way back to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph. For a Samaritan to go out of his way on behalf of a badly injured Jewish man instead of leaving him to die was unheard of – but that’s just what Jesus came to do: the unheard of. To save sinners and radically upend generations of divisive and fallacious teaching.

“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark” (John 12:46).

According to an excerpt from Bible.org:

“There are countless modern parallels to the Jewish-Samaritan enmity—indeed, wherever peoples are divided by racial and ethnic barriers. Perhaps that’s why the Gospels and Acts provide so many instances of Samaritans coming into contact with the message of Jesus. It is not the person from the radically different culture on the other side of the world that is hardest to love, but the nearby neighbor whose skin color, language, rituals, values, ancestry, history, and customs are different from one’s own.”

Sound familiar?

The “He gets us” campaign has undoubtedly come under fire since the debut of their Super Bowl ad titled Foot Washing that depicts people from very obviously opposite walks of life washing the feet of another who looks different than them and more than likely leads a much different lifestyle.

The scenes are clear in what they are portraying, each distinctly representing sensitive and politically charged issues. A police officer washing the feet of a black man in an alley. A well dressed, probably popular teenage girl washing the feet of another young woman with pixie cut fire-engine-red hair in the floor of a busy school hallway. A middle-aged woman on her knees in the parking lot of a family planning clinic washing the feet of a much younger girl. An oil rig operator pouring water over a young climate activist’s feet from his hard hat. A white pastor washing the feet of a clearly homosexual young black man.

Some would argue, and they are, that the minute-long plug is confusing, misleading and lukewarm. Another argument is that the commercial is seeming to affirm and accommodate sin, making it comfortable to come to Jesus without the pressure of transformation.

But for a moment, what if we entertained the idea that the message was spot on? Sure, it was created by fallible humans, but what if, instead of allowing more division to take root, we shift our thinking to the fact that maybe someone saw themselves on the screen and for the first time ever associated the name of Jesus with love and kindness. And maybe, just maybe it compelled them to open a Bible or go to church or reach out to someone for more information on this Jesus guy. Maybe it was the moment their story changed forever.

In John 13:14, after humbling himself to the duty of a servant and washing the feet of His disciples, including Judas Iscariot who would just hours later turn Jesus over to the authorities for 30 pieces of silver, and Peter who would deny ever knowing Him, Jesus commanded them, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.”

Who then are we, retched sinners in desperate need of a Savior, to say who does and doesn’t deserve for us – filthy, human us – to extend the same love that was first extended to us? Are we better than Him? The Author and Perfector – are we above Him? How in the world could we ever expect someone to find and choose Jesus, how could they ever experience transformative, resurrection power if they never saw a demonstration of His precious character?

It is His kindness that leads us to repentance.

Arguably the most stunning truth about the gospel is that we don’t have to change who we are to come to Jesus, but it is the coming to Jesus that changes us.

“If Jesus Christ is not true God, how could He help us? If He is not true man, how could He help us?” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Fully God, detesting what is evil, more than able to transform the likes of Saul to Paul. Fully man, tested in wilderness, overcome with human emotion throughout the pages of Scripture.

He does get us.

Even better than that? He wants us – black, white, Republican, Democrat, queer, transgender, alcoholic, homeless, adulterer, idolater, murderer. He wants nothing more for us to come to Him, just as we are, filth and all to experience transformation, resurrection, wholeness, identity rooted deep within the wounds in His hands, and a cavernous abundance of freedom that only precious, intimate relationship with Him can unlock.

I don’t know about you, but for what the opinion of a 28-year-old former trainwreck is worth, after being passed up and overlooked, written off, I sure am glad someone finally stopped to wash my dirty feet and introduced me to Jesus.