If you look up the Great Commandment, you will find references to Mark 12:30-31 and Matthew 22:36-40. Like so many other events in Jesus’s life, it appears in all three Synoptic Gospels. We just often skip past it in Luke.
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 10:25-37
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 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.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 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. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 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. 35 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.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
See it? We call this the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and skim right past Jesus affirming the Great Commandment. In this telling, the questioner acknowledges the two pillars himself, quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. Like any good lawyer, though, he looks for more detail. The familiar parable follows. It’s a well-known story, and I probably don’t have much to add, but I’ll try.
There are three passersby here: a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. In that time and place, a priest was someone who was able to enter the inner parts of the Temple; a Levite was an assistant around the Temple; and the Samaritans claimed common ancestry with the Jews and had a similar religion, but somewhat distorted. The priest and the Levite would have been careful to remain ritually clean so that they could continue their Temple service. The Samaritan would have been considered a heretic by the Jewish crowd.
Jesus is preaching here a contrast between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. The questioner was an expert in the law, so presumably was seeking ultimate orthodoxy. He wanted to be fully within the law. He would have seen himself in the priest and Levite, knowing the holiness codes that prohibit contact with blood, dead bodies, etc. The Samaritan, on the other hand, would clearly have NOT been considered righteous! He was outside the Law and would not worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. And yet, Jesus uses him to illustrate what it means to love your neighbor.
In the Reformed tradition (and probably other strands of Christian theology), we cannot do good works on our own, but only with God’s help. Jesus seems to be saying here that God works through the Samaritan, despite his distorted beliefs.
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:18
Loving your neighbor doesn’t mean sending them “thoughts and prayers,” or talking (or blogging, or writing on Facebook) about how important it is. Loving your neighbor means giving of yourself. It means risking your health, even your life, to help someone in need. It means taking time out of your schedule to serve others, and spending your money for their benefit.
The priest and Levite went past so that they could continue in their work, was service to God in the Temple. They honored the first half of the commandment at the expense of the second half. But it is all of one piece. You cannot love God and hate your neighbor. You cannot love God and neglect your neighbor in need.