Old Testament
Deuteronomy 10:17-19
17 For the LORD your God, he is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn’t respect persons or take bribes.
18 He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing.
19 Therefore love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
New Testament
Luke 10:25-37
25 Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.”
28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”
30 Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell amongst robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion,
34 came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’
36 Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbour to him who fell amongst the robbers?”
37 He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Deuteronomy names God as the great and awesome Lord who takes no bribe and shows no partiality. His justice is not a mood. He loves the sojourner, giving food and clothing; therefore his people must love the sojourner too.
Jesus answers a lawyer’s question with a story that will not stay theoretical. A wounded man lies in the road. The respectable pass by. A Samaritan draws near, binds wounds, lifts the weight, pays the cost, and promises to return. Neighbour-love is not a sentiment; it is a decision made with hands.
When strangers arrive among us, justice is not only what we feel. It is what we do with power: how we design processes, how we speak, how we listen, how we treat the person in front of us. It is also the courage to be precise when fear would make us vague.
So pray for asylum systems that do not become machines of delay. Pray for hearings marked by truthfulness and care. And ask God to school your imagination: if this person were your kin, what would fairness require? The gospel does not ask for heroic saviours. It asks for faithful neighbours, and for a common life that reflects the Lord who “does not lift up faces”.