The Parable of the Good Samaritan Is Important to the Christian Faith
The Parable of the Good Samaritan described by Jesus Christ in Luke 10:25-37 demonstrates a key characteristic of the Christian faith.
Jesus replied after being asked about the greatest commandment as described in Mark 12:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31.
Then after someone asked Jesus "who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29), Jesus tells a parable describing a man who is beaten up by robbers and left half-dead on the road. Several other travelers, a Priest and a Levite, passed by the suffering man and did not help him but finally someone, "a Samaritan," did help the man by taking him to an inn and taking care of him. The Samaritan also paid the innkeeper to take care of the man further and offered to pay any extra expense. The parable describes the teaching of having compassion for those in need and complies with the teachings of Jesus to "love thy neighbor." Having compassion for others is an important part of the Christian message that Jesus taught and is an expression of the faith. Those who have faith will express this faith by having compassion on those in need. The parable further demonstrates that faith in Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven is more than a belief and that true faith is expressed through good works such as showing compassion for those in need and those who are suffering. A person who claims to be a believer but does not show compassion for others is not showing true faith. Therefore, the Priest and the Levite did not fulfill the law because they did not show compassion like the Samaritan did.
Jesus replied after being asked about the greatest commandment as described in Mark 12:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31.
Then after someone asked Jesus "who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29), Jesus tells a parable describing a man who is beaten up by robbers and left half-dead on the road. Several other travelers, a Priest and a Levite, passed by the suffering man and did not help him but finally someone, "a Samaritan," did help the man by taking him to an inn and taking care of him. The Samaritan also paid the innkeeper to take care of the man further and offered to pay any extra expense. The parable describes the teaching of having compassion for those in need and complies with the teachings of Jesus to "love thy neighbor." Having compassion for others is an important part of the Christian message that Jesus taught and is an expression of the faith. Those who have faith will express this faith by having compassion on those in need. The parable further demonstrates that faith in Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven is more than a belief and that true faith is expressed through good works such as showing compassion for those in need and those who are suffering. A person who claims to be a believer but does not show compassion for others is not showing true faith. Therefore, the Priest and the Levite did not fulfill the law because they did not show compassion like the Samaritan did.
