"Go and do you likewise," Luke 10:37.
Isn't it phenomenal how Jesus takes our question and turns the answer on its head? I mean, he does this all the time. Take for example the second most important commandment, Love your neighbor as yourself. Immediately we want to find the limits of such required generosity, Who exactly is it that I'm supposed to treat so well? Who is my neighbor? The answer to that also tells of the limits of grace, right? This kind is my neighbor, that kind is not. So Jesus tells a story about that kind of third-class human being (a Samaritan) who treats one of my own kind with way-over-the-top generosity. And then Jesus says, Don't worry about who your neighbor is: You BE the neighbor. Jesus suddenly removes the limits, and releases grace unbound.
And we give thanks to God whose unbound love includes even us, our kind, into the kingdom of his son, Jesus. Today, marvel together with a brother or sister that Christ has taken those third-class people, and made us all, together, first class.
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