Luke 10:25-37 The parable of the good Samaritan was an illustration that Jesus used to answer the question asked by the "expert of the law". This expert had originally asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" In essence Jesus answered, "You're a lawyer, what does the law say?" He answered, "Love God..., love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus replied, "Good answer, do it and live." But....said the lawyer, "Who is my neighbor?" Let's take a look at Jesus' answer. There was a road that went from Jerusalem to Jericho. It went through some rather rugged country with mountains and gorges and plenty of caves to hide the many robbers that took advantage of the travelers. The Jericho road was the one the Jews took to go around Samaria when traveling between Jerusalem and Galilee. No Jew would ever go through Samaria. We know nothing about the man who was robbed. Jew or Samaritan? Rich or poor? Old or young? The important thing was that he was an easy target for the waiting thieves, who robbed him down to his skin and beat him and left him dying. We certainly can't blame the Priest and the Levite who passed on by. The dying man was bait left by the robbers to take advantage of anyone who stopped to help. More than likely they were "ceremonially clean" Couldn't spoil that. And besides, they were trying to get back to Galilee, and they just couldn't get around Samaria fast enough. Someone else would certainly have time to stop and help. The Samaritan, who stopped, was probably helping someone who had been in the process of bypassing his country. He was putting himself at risk of being robbed himself. He gave himself, his time and his money to help someone in trouble who probably would not have helped him. Think about it.

The Godly Neighbor