A teacher of the Law once came up and tried to trap Jesus Christ.
“Teacher,” he asked Jesus, “What must I do to receive eternal life?”
Jesus answered him, “What do the scriptures say? How do you interpret them?”
The man answered, ” ‘Love the Lord, our God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ “
“You are right,” Jesus replied; “Do this and you will live.”
But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”
Jesus answered, “There was once a man who was going down form Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead.
It so happened that a priest was going down that road: but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side. In the same way, a Levites also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side.
But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity. He went over to him poured oil and wine on his wounds, and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.
The next day, he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he told the innkeeper, ‘and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.’ “
And Jesus concluded, “In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbour towards the man attacked by the robbers?”
The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who was kind to him.”
Jesus replied, “You go, then, and do the same.’
From The Bible
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