What is the parable of the good Samaritan?

Jesus told of a man beaten and left for dead, ignored by a priest and a Levite, but helped by a Samaritan who bound his wounds and paid for his care (Luke 10). It redefines who counts as a neighbor.

What does the good Samaritan teach?

That love for neighbor is shown in mercy and action, and that a neighbor is anyone in need, even across deep divisions. Jesus ended it with, 'Go, and do thou likewise' (Luke 10:37).

Where is the parable of the good Samaritan?

It is in Luke chapter 10, verses 25 to 37. You can read it in the Gospel reader here on The Living Bread.

Meet Jesus

The Good Samaritan: When You Wonder Who Your Neighbor Is

A man was beaten and left half dead by the road. A priest passed by. A temple assistant passed by. Then a Samaritan, a despised outsider, stopped, bound his wounds, carried him to safety, and paid for his care. Jesus told this to a man asking who counts as his neighbor. The answer was the one who showed mercy. Go, Jesus said, and do the same.

If this is you

If you have wondered what real love for people actually looks like past the talk, or if you have been the one lying by the road while the respectable stepped around you, this parable meets you. Jesus makes the hero the person everyone had written off, and makes mercy the whole point.

The story

A lawyer, testing Jesus, asked who his neighbor was. Jesus answered with a story: a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among thieves, who stripped and beat him and left him half dead. A priest saw him and passed by on the other side. So did a Levite. Then came a Samaritan.

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,”

Luke 10:33

“And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”

Luke 10:34

“Which now of these three was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”

Luke 10:36-37

What this shows about Jesus

Jesus took the hero role away from the religious professionals and gave it to a Samaritan, the last person his audience would have honored. Mercy, not status or correctness, is what makes a neighbor. And the story does not end as a nice idea. It ends as a command: go and do likewise. Jesus both shows us the mercy of God and calls us into it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the parable of the good Samaritan?: Jesus told of a man beaten and left for dead, ignored by a priest and a Levite, but helped by a Samaritan who bound his wounds and paid for his care (Luke 10). It redefines who counts as a neighbor.
What does the good Samaritan teach?: That love for neighbor is shown in mercy and action, and that a neighbor is anyone in need, even across deep divisions. Jesus ended it with, 'Go, and do thou likewise' (Luke 10:37).
Where is the parable of the good Samaritan?: It is in Luke chapter 10, verses 25 to 37. You can read it in the Gospel reader here on The Living Bread.

Read it yourself. Do not take our word for it. The whole scene is right there in the Gospel: Luke 10 → Read slowly, and watch what Jesus actually does.

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Come and see for yourself

Jesus is himself the one who crosses the road when everyone else passes by, who binds up wounds and pays the cost. Meet the mercy in the story, and then he says to you, go and do the same.

You do not have to believe anything yet. Just come and look at him with an open heart, the way the people in these stories did. He still draws near to everyone who comes.

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Jesus Christ is Lord.

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