Luke 10

How to inherit eternal life

25 And then, a certain lawyer stood up to test Him, saying, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 So He said to him: "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" 27 In answer he said: "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."*See Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18—to include the ‘neighbor’ he had to quote from a different book. Notice that Jesus agreed with him. 28 So He said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live!" 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"*Notice that the man skipped the most important part of his answer, about loving the Lord.

The good Samaritan

30 By way of reply Jesus said: "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and as it chanced he ran into robbers, who after having stripped and wounded him, departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by coincidence a certain priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked,*The priest maintained his distance, but the Levite at least went close to the man for a better look, but then did nothing about it. and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan,*The Lord’s choice of a ‘Samaritan’ was doubtless deliberate, since the Jews looked down on them. as he traveled, came by there, and upon seeing him was moved with compassion; 34 and going to him he bound up his wounds, applying oil and wine. Then he placed him on his own mount, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and should you spend more, I will repay you when I return.’ 36 So which of these three, would you say, was ‘neighbor’ to him who ran into the robbers?" 37 He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." So Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise!"*Anyone who has been hit with a calamity is a candidate for needing a ‘neighbor’. What with floods, tornados, earthquakes, etc. there are plenty of candidates.