Perfect love to God and to
man is surely the way of life; but who can show such perfect love? Jesus
came not to destroy this requirement of the Law but to reveal its complete
fulfillment, to secure pardon for those who were guilty of its infraction,
and to give power to those who felt their need.

The reply of Jesus not only defeated the lawyer; it smote his conscience.
He realized that he himself had never fulfilled the requirement of the Law
he knew so well. He therefore attempted to justify himself by limiting the
sphere to which the law of love applies. This is always the experience of
those who seek to save themselves while rejecting the salvation of Christ.
No one in his own power can fulfill the demands of this perfect law;
either we must secure aid outside ourselves and trust in a loving Saviour,
or else we must in some way lessen the demands which the law makes. The
lawyer suggested that it is impossible to love everyone, even though it be
required to love our neighbors, and to justify himself he asked the
question, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied by the story of the man,
evidently a Jew, who went down the steep road from Jerusalem to Jericho
and, as he passed through the narrow gorge, was beset by robbers who
stripped him of his garments and his possessions and left him half dead.
The first to approach this pitiful sufferer was a priest, a man whose
profession and task in life would induce him to perform a deed of mercy,
but in fear of thieves or in blind oblivion to the need of the wounded
man, he passed by on the other side. Next came a Levite, one whose office
was that of a helper to the priests, a man who supposedly would be less
burdened by official duties and would have more time to extend relief; but
he likewise passed by. At last came a Samaritan, a man of an alien race
and of a despised religion, but he showed compassion; he bound up the
wounds of the sufferer and placed him on his beast and brought him to an
inn and paid for his entertainment. He showed the spirit of love. Thus
Jesus indicated that our neighbor is not only one who "lives near" but one
who needs our help, as well as one who helps our need. He demonstrated the
truth that the law of love is not limited by rank or station or race or
creed. Nor is it limited to man. One must likewise love God with all the
heart, and thus he will surely love and serve the Son in whom the love of
God is made perfect.

5. Martha and Mary. Ch. 10