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[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]It has been said that where scripture speaks, we should speak and where scripture is silent, we should be silent. While this may sound good to many, it is a faulty assumption. Following this reasoning, we could conclude that since Scripture doesn’t specifically address abortion, we should remain silent on the issue. The problem with this conclusion is that many portions of Scripture naturally lead to a pro-life worldview without specifically mentioning abortion. Luke 10 is a good example.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
In Luke 10, we encounter a lawyer testing Jesus by asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus forces the man to answer his own question and the man highlights the two most important commandments: “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself” (v. 27). Wishing to justify himself, the man asks Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29). Jesus responds by telling the story of the Good Samaritan.
We’re all familiar with the story. A traveler is attacked by robbers who beat him and leave him for dead. Two religious men happen to be traveling on the same road. Instead of helping the bleeding victim, the two men go out of their way to avoid him (“passed by on the other side” [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text][v. 31][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]). On the other hand, when the Good Samaritan encounters the same man, he sacrifices his time and money to love the bleeding victim as his neighbor.
I think we can safely say that the Levite and the Priest in Jesus’ parable felt compassion for the bleeding victim. They were religious men who knew the law and had at least a semi-functioning moral conscience. They probably felt bad for the mugged man, but they didn’t show compassion. This is Jesus’ whole point in telling the parable – to put the levite and priest in juxtaposition to the Good Samaritan, who after encountering the bleeding victim, “had compassion” (10:33) on him.
“‘Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise'” (vv. 36-37).
While Jesus certainly meant to create a broad inclusive scope to “loving your neighbor”, in the most simple, literal sense, the parable of the Good Samaritan is about our duty to intervene on behalf of those whose innocent blood is being shed. Jesus’ command to “go and do likewise” is an affirmative duty he commands the lawyer to do.
Feeling AND Showing Compassion
Relating this parable to the abortion issue, it seems fair to ask, “Is the unborn our neighbor?” The unborn is our neighbor if the unborn is a human being – a member of the species homo sapiens. The unborn is a distinct, living, and whole human being (there is no meaningful debate anymore regarding this question) and should therefore be granted the same value Jesus put on loving our neighbors.
Since the unborn is our neighbor, we as Christians have an obligation to show compassion to these pre-born children who are being victimized by the practice of abortion. If you feel pity for the abortion victim, but you’re doing nothing to show pity, how different are you really from the Levite and the priest who almost certainly felt compassion, but definitely didn’t show it?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
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