Luke 10:25-37 — “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?…” The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most well-known in the New Testament. It has much to teach us about loving our neighbour and overcoming prejudice, but is that really what it’s about?
If we’re going to interpret the parable faithfully, we have to carefully consider the context in which it was given. It was Jesus’ response to a religious man’s question. When we think about who the man was, we can understand the message Jesus was trying to communicate, and it’s probably not the one we usually hear whenever this parable is taught.