The Good Samaritan

A tricky question

One day, a clever man — a lawyer who knew all the rules — came up to Jesus. He wanted to test Jesus, to see how smart He really was.

"Teacher," the man said, "what must I do to live forever with God?"

Jesus smiled. "You already know the answer. What does the Bible say?"

The man stood up tall and recited the most famous rule of all.

"That's right," Jesus said. "Do that and you'll live."

But the lawyer wasn't done. He wanted to look extra smart — and extra good. So he asked another question, like he was setting a little trap.

That's when Jesus sat down — and told a story.

Down the lonely road

"A man was walking down the long, lonely road from Jerusalem to Jericho," Jesus said. "It was a rocky road. It was a twisty road. And it was a dangerous road."

"Suddenly, from behind a big rock, robbers jumped out! They knocked the poor man down. They took his coat. They took his sandals. They took his bag. They hurt him very badly — and then they ran away, leaving him lying there, all bruised and bleeding in the dust."

"He could not get up. He could not walk. He could not call for help. He just lay there hoping someone — anyone — would come along."

Two who walked right past

"And someone did come along," Jesus said. "It was a priest — a holy man who worked in God's temple. The hurt man heard footsteps. He hoped the priest would help him."

"But the priest looked at the man lying in the dust… and crossed to the other side of the road. He walked right past."

"A little while later, another man came along. This was a Levite — a man who helped in the temple too. The hurt man heard footsteps and hoped again. But the Levite did the same thing. He looked. He crossed the road. He walked right past."

"The poor man lay there alone, and the sun got hotter, and his heart got sadder."

The stranger who stopped

"But then," Jesus said, "a third traveler came down the road. He was a Samaritan."

Now you have to understand: in those days, the Jews and the Samaritans did not get along. They didn't talk to each other. They didn't sit together. Everyone listening to Jesus expected the Samaritan to walk past too — maybe even kick the poor man for good measure.

But that's not what the Samaritan did.

"The Samaritan jumped off his donkey. He cleaned the man's cuts with oil and wine. He wrapped them up with strips of his own cloak. He lifted the hurt man — gently, gently — onto his donkey. And he walked beside him, all the long way to the next town."

"When they reached an inn, the Samaritan paid the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him. Whatever it costs, I will pay you back when I come this way again.'"

The question Jesus asked back

When Jesus finished the story, He looked at the clever lawyer. And He asked him a question.

The lawyer cleared his throat. "The one who showed him mercy."

And Jesus said, "Go and do the same."

The lawyer thought he was asking who counts as a neighbor. But Jesus turned the question right around. The real question isn't, "Who is my neighbor?" The real question is, "Will I be a neighbor — to whoever needs me?"