New Testament Stories

  The Good Samaritan

"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." Luke 10:27

                              One day when Jesus was talking to the people, one of the lawyers from the temple asked, "Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?"

     Jesus answered, "What does the law of Israel say about that?"

     The lawyer said, "The law says that we must love God with all our hearts, we must love our neighbors as ourselves."

     "Good!" said Jesus. "You have answered right. Keep this law and you shall live."

     "But who is my neighbor?" the man asked.

     Jesus said, "I will tell you a story. Once a man left Jerusalem and started down the road to Jericho. Some robbers came, took all his money and clothes and his donkey, and beat him up. They left him half dead by the side of the road. A priest from the temple came by and saw him and went to the other side of the road so he wouldn't have to look at him. A Levite (a temple helper), did the same thing. But then came along a Samaritan."

     The people looked at each other. They wondered what Jesus was telling them. None of them thought the Samaritans were very good people. Jesus continued, "The Samaritan saw the man and his heart went out to him. He put medicine and bandages on him, lifted the man onto his donkey, and took him to an inn.

     "The Samaritan paid the inn keeper with his own money and asked him to take care of the man who had been robbed, until he got better. He even promised to pay anything extra the next time he came to the inn."

     Jesus looked at the lawyer. "Which of the people where a good neighbor to the man?" "The priest? The Levite? Or the Samaritan?"

     "The one who helped the man," said the lawyer.

     "Good!" said Jesus. "Now go and do the same yourself."