Luke 10:25-37

v. 25-29 One of the religious leaders asked Jesus "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus had him repeat what was written in the law.  We are to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.  We are also to love our neighbor.  The man asked "And who is my neighbor?" 

v. 30-35 Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan.  "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers.  They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.  Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper.  Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have." 

At any point the Samaritan could have stopped: he showed compassion by stopping, bandaged the man's wounds, pouring on oil and giving him wine, put him on his donkey and took him to an inn, the next day he gave the inn keeper coins to take care of the man while he was away, then he was going to come back and pay for any additional expenses that the inn keeper had for taking care of the man.  He went above and beyond what most of us would do.  Most of us do not have the time to do all of these.  I ask all of us, what do you have time to do?  There are many ways to help people with whatever time, money, and energy you have.  Do what you can and God can have others help as well.

This is a very familiar story for most people.  Looking deeper into each role in the story is very interesting.

To the religious leader asking the question............the wounded man was a subject to discuss.
To the robbers.........................................................the wounded man was someone to use & exploit.
To the religious man that walked by......................the wounded man was a problem to be avoided.
To the innkeeper.....................................................the wounded man was a customer to serve for a fee.
To the Samaritian...................................................the wounded man was a human being worth being cared for and loved.
To Jesus......................................................................all of them and all of us were worth dying for.
                                                                                                                                               NIV notes
Three principles of loving your neighbor:

• Lack of love is often easy to justify, even though it is never right
• Our neighbor is anyone of any race, creed, or social background who is in need
• Love means acting to meet the person's need.                                                            NIV notes

v. 36-37 Jesus asked the religious leader "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  The man replied "The one who had mercy on him."  Did you notice that the leader could not even say the word Samaritan?  Since there was such hatred between the two groups, this is a strong example for us to love all no matter what.