One such key value is reflected in Christ’s subversive definition of who is our neighbour—a definition that stood poles apart from the prevalent human and Jewish thinking at that time. The question was posed by an expert in Jewish Law, who was most likely testing Jesus, wondering if he would speak against the Torah or the Law. The answer he got was unexpected, and it set the foundations for what we may call "The Human Club". The story of this encounter was recorded in Luke’s gospel[1] as follows:
“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.”
The interpretation of this story, whether from a Christian or from a human perspective, lead us to a Christ who came to transform human nature. Through him, mankind is reborn and restored, from death to life, from sin to righteousness, and from the confines of insular fanaticism to the wide embrace of an all-encompassing humanity. Christ has indeed created a human club with a voluntary membership, and those who wish to join need to meet one condition: to genuinely believe in its values. These transcendent values are best represented in the “Sermon on the Mount”, which has inspired most human rights charters that still strive to reflect a fraction of its exceptional and challenging ethics.
The "Good Samaritan" parable is full of symbolic meanings, conveyed through locations and figures that Jesus chose deliberately: Jerusalem is the city of peace, the city of God, and Jericho is a city of death and damnation (Joshua 6:26), a symbol of the earth which was cursed because of sin (Genesis 3:17). A person hailing from the city of peace and heading towards the city of damnation will certainly face major trouble on the way, going through 18 miles of a remote desert road aptly named “blood road”, which was occupied by bandits and troublemakers. After the bandits savagely attacked the Jew passing through and left him close to death, two men passed by: a priest and a Levite, both were representatives and keepers of the Jewish Law and both were his kinsmen, but none of them came to his rescue. For this wounded man, no help was found in the Law or with the Law Keepers, which is fitting, since the Law can diagnose and condemn the human condition, but can not offer salvation to mankind.
Surprisingly, salvation ended up coming at the hands of a Samaritan, a reviled outcast and an “enemy” from a Jewish perspective. This Samaritan came to the rescue of a human being, any and all human beings no labels attached, regardless of whether the one in need loved him or rejected him, and regardless of colour, race or gender… the one thing that mattered is that he was simply another human being. This Good Samaritan is the Lord Jesus Himself, who was despised and rejected by his own people, and while He was not a Samaritan by birth, his own people still cast him out, and ultimately crucified him.
Jesus made one point clear: if you wish to belong to that human club, you need to do good to all people, and to count all fellow humans as neighbors. You need to extend kindness even to those who hate and antagonize you, and to have Christ’s own mind and heart towards the sick, the needy, the hungry, the strangers and the prisoners, and all who are in need of assistance. Therefore, dozens of hospitals in the United States bear the name “The Good Samaritan Hospital”, because they will not turn away an injured Osama Ben Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. They would treat them regardless of other issues, and their patients’ needs would be their only concern, following the example of Christ who came to redeem the entire human race from Adam’s days till Judgement Day.
Jesus Christ is the founder and head of the human club—a club that is open to all mankind, on one condition, that the members embrace the values proclaimed by the club’s founder in His Sermon on the Mount. That does not necessarily mean that all Christians are members, but only those who live a life that perpetuates those values.
However, while this club is open to all humanity from each race and nation, a question remains: who can actually follow such teachings: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…”[2] Who can live up to the standards they set? Christ can, and Christ did, as well as those who allow Christ to dwell deep into their hearts, to live with and through them. Jesus pointed out that without him we can do nothing[3], and Paul proclaimed “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.[4]” But, Jesus reproached his own followers because they had asked nothing in His name till now[5], and urged them to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.”[6] He repeatedly encouraged us to reach out to Him: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”[7] In other words, ask Christ to abide in you, and everything else will fall into place.
Real kinship is not about blood ties, it develops when you wholeheartedly adopt and practice the values of this human club, which urges you to regard those who are in need as your neighbors, whether they need a compassionate and healing touch, or need their rights to be acknowledged and dignity restored. Look for anyone who needs a helping hand, and there is your neighbor. Furthermore, we may be talking about a human club, but this neighbourly love and compassion should be extended to animals as well.
A story from Mother Teresa’s life sums this up beautifully: she was given an appointment to meet with Pope John Paul II upon her request, and as she was on her way, she saw a homeless man and stopped to offer kind words and help. As a result she was late for her appointment, and when asked about what could have kept her from such an important engagement, she replied: I met Christ on the way, and that is why I was delayed in meeting His servant on earth.
My neighbour is a person I connect with, and through that connection, I find myself on the same wavelength as God who cares for “the least of these brothers and sisters” and for their needs. By extending kindness to the disadvantaged and vulnerable, we find ourselves forging a profound connection with God, and our lives can reflect Jesus’ character, values and merciful work.
In this human club, the bond developed through shared values is more important than the one born of blood ties. We get to share Christ’s own values and heart, make the choices He made and walk the same path He tread, and in so doing, we become Christ-like figures to the needy, the persecuted, the sick and the suffering that we encounter on our life journey.
I doubt any club can compare to this one!
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The writer is an Egyptian intellectual, prominent human rights activist, and Executive Director of the Middle East Freedom Forum in Cairo & Washington