Love in Action: How Jesus Redefined What Matters Most
It's one of those stories we've heard so many times that we sometimes miss just how radical it really is.
A man is traveling along a dangerous road when he's attacked, robbed, and left for dead. A respected religious leader comes by, sees him, and... crosses to the other side. Another religious professional does the same. Then, unexpectedly, someone from a despised group – the last person anyone would expect to help – stops, tends to the man's wounds, and goes above and beyond to ensure his care.
The Good Samaritan. We've turned it into a cliché, an insurance company jingle, even a law. But when Jesus first told this story, it was shocking. Offensive, even. It completely upended people's understanding of what it meant to love God and love others.
When Love Gets Uncomfortable
Let's be honest – loving others sounds wonderful in theory. In practice? It gets messy. Real love often leads us to uncomfortable places and asks us to cross boundaries we'd rather maintain.
When an expert in religious law asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" he was looking for limits. He wanted to know where his obligation to love stopped. Who qualified and who didn't. Jesus's response through the parable was essentially: "You're asking the wrong question. The question isn't 'who deserves my love?' but rather 'how can I be a neighbor to anyone in need?'"
That's a much more challenging question, isn't it?
Beyond Our Comfort Zones
Think about it: the religious leaders in the story probably had very good reasons for not stopping. Maybe they were late for important duties. Maybe they feared it was a trap. Maybe they were concerned about ritual impurity from touching what might have been a corpse.
The Samaritan, on the other hand, had every cultural reason to keep walking. Jews and Samaritans were enemies with centuries of hostility between them. No one would have blamed him for passing by.
But Jesus held up this unexpected hero as the example of what loving your neighbor actually looks like. It means:
Seeing the need in front of you
Moving toward pain rather than away from it
Crossing social, political, and cultural boundaries
Giving of your time, resources, and comfort
Following through on commitments to care
Love in a Divided World
If this story felt provocative in Jesus's day, it feels almost impossible in ours. We live in a world that seems increasingly divided – politically, ideologically, economically. We're encouraged to see those who think differently as opponents rather than neighbors.
Yet Jesus calls us to a love that defies these divisions. A love that asks, "How can I be a neighbor?" rather than "Do they deserve my care?"
What would it look like if we took this seriously? Maybe it means:
Having a conversation with someone whose political views differ from yours – not to change their mind, but to understand their heart
Noticing the person everyone else overlooks in your workplace, neighborhood, or church
Choosing to see the humanity in the person behind the counter, the wheel, or the register – especially when they're having a rough day
Giving generously to meet needs without questioning whether the recipient is "worthy"
Opening your home or your life to someone who doesn't fit neatly into your social circle
From Theory to Practice
It's one thing to nod along to these ideas on Sunday morning. It's another to put them into practice on Monday. So here's a question worth considering: What's one way you could be a neighbor this week?
Maybe it's checking in on an elderly neighbor. Maybe it's having a conversation with that coworker everyone avoids. Maybe it's reconciling with someone you've been avoiding. Or maybe it's just paying attention to the needs around you that you normally tune out.
Small acts of neighboring might not change the whole world, but they change something in us. And sometimes, they change everything for the person on the receiving end.
The Heart Behind the Action
Here's the thing about Jesus's teaching: it's not just about doing good deeds. It's about letting love reshape how we see the world and everyone in it. The expert in the law wanted to justify himself by defining who deserved love. Jesus invited him to become a person defined by love instead.
That's the invitation for us too. Not just to do loving things occasionally, but to become people whose default response is love – even when it's inconvenient, uncomfortable, or costly. Because that's what Jesus did for us.
When Jesus redefined love, He didn't just give us a new moral standard. He showed us what God's love looks like in action – a love that crosses every barrier, pays every cost, and holds nothing back.
Ready to explore what this kind of love could look like in your life? Join us at Centerpoint Church as we continue our "Investigating Jesus" series. Whether you're a longtime follower of Jesus or just curious about what He actually taught, you'll find a community of imperfect people trying to figure out together what it means to love in action.
Join us Sunday at 9am or 11am in Valrico, Florida, or stream our services online. Because investigating Jesus is always better done together.