The Good Samaritan - The Gospels

In this Bible Story, we learn about the true meaning of kindness from the story of the good Samaritan. Jesus uses this story to teach that goodness does not always come from the perfect people, rather those that we may least expect. This story is inspired by Luke 10:25-37. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is Luke 10:37 from the King James Version.

Episode 201: On another day of walking and teaching a lawyer came up to Jesus asking about eternal life. Wanting to justify himself he responded to Jesus’ answer by asking Him who counts as a neighbor. To illustrate His point, Jesus told the lawyer a story about an Israelite man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Nobody who should have helped this man, actually helped him. Instead, a Samaritan, hated by the Jews, picked him up, bandaged his wounds, and brought him to an inn to be taken care of. The next question Jesus asks challenges both the lawyer and us to think about what it means to be a neighbor.

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Music by: Andrew Morgan Smith

Bible Story narration by: Todd Haberkorn

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray, And he said, he that showed mercy
on him then said Jesus unto him, go and do
thou likewise. Luke ten thirty seven, open the eyes of
my heart so that I will be able to come
to the aid of my brother and sister in Christ.

(00:24):
Break off all prejudices and cultural stigmas that may be
attached to my mind, both knowingly and unknowingly. Give me
the strength, Lord to break through cultural boundaries, like Jesus,
to show the love and kindness you have and think
towards them. Like the story of the Good Samaritan, I

(00:47):
will not wait for convenience to be a resource and
outlet of hope. I also thank you in advance for
providing all the provision needed to adequately serve those in need.
You've commanded me to love my neighbor as I love myself. Therefore,
first increase the love I have for myself, so that

(01:09):
I can increase the love for those all around me.
I declare that others are valuable because I am valuable.
I declare that they have worth because I have worth.
I declare that they are called to greatness because you
have called me to greatness. God, with these truths as

(01:31):
anchors to my soul. I will help build the lives
of those around me because you are building my life
within me in Jesus name, Amen. Listening to these daily
prayers strengthens your relationship with God. Continue hearing from the

(01:51):
Lord by listening to today's Bible in a Year, brought
to you by Bible in a Year dot.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Com the Good Samaritan. In our last story, Jesus gave
an intense illustration about the true meaning of forgiveness and
mercy through a servant and his master. Now Jesus unpacks

(02:18):
the meaning behind being a good neighbor through an unexpected
hero inspired by the Gospels.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of the
Bible in a Year. The last time we were together,
we heard Jesus's teaching on how great our debt is
to God and why his forgiveness of our sins should
motivate us to forgive others. It's an important lesson on
showing mercy and giving forgiveness as a response to God's incredible,

(02:48):
immense grace toward us. Today, we'll hear another parable from Jesus.
A parable is described as an earthly story with a
heavenly meaning. Jesus this time is illustrating what it means
to love our neighbor and who is our neighbor. His
teaching sets the highest of standards for loving as God loves.

(03:10):
So let's listen now to the reading of his word.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Jesus was walking in the outer regions of the city.
It was a bright spring day, and Jesus was mingling
with a few of the villages. A lawyer came from
the crowd and sat beside Jesus. The young man was
carky and held himself with unearned confidence. Jesus smiled at
the young man and greeted him, paying little attention to pleasantries.
The lawyer spoke, saying, Teacher, how shall I inherit eternal life.

(03:40):
Jesus looked forward towards the children playing beside the road.
He saw their parents close behind them, laughing. Jesus looked
back at the lawyer and replied, what is written in
the law? Have you read it? You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
You shall love your neighbor as your elf. The young

(04:00):
man replied, very good. Jesus answered, do these things, and
you shall live into eternity. As Jesus sat up to
walk towards the people, the lawyer stopped him. Yes, but
who is considered my neighbor? The lawyer asked in jest.
He asked these things to figure out who he needed
to love and who he could ignore. Jesus turned back

(04:21):
to the man and walked back. He sat on the
bench beside him and told him a story. As he began,
a whole crowd of people gathered around to listen. A
man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. As he walked
the countryside, a band of robbers ambushed him out of nowhere.
They struck his face and his ribs. As the man
fell to his knees, another robber kicked him in the jar.

(04:45):
The man's head slammed onto the ground, and an onslaught
of kicks barraged him endlessly. The robbers tore off his
clothes and took everything he owned. Once they were through
shaming him, they tossed him off the edge of the
road into a ditch full of stones and weeds. The
man lay there half dead. He had lost all feeling
in his legs, and his face was so swollen he

(05:05):
could barely see his cracked ribs scraped against his lungs
as he struggled for every breath. The man truly believed
he would die there until he saw a priest walking
by the road. The priest was holding a few scrolls
strolling along the pathways. The man groaned and tried to
shout out to the priest for help. The priest looked
around and saw the naked man bloodied on the floor.

(05:28):
Repulsed by the sight, the priest walked to the other
side of the road and continued on his way. The
day rolled on and the air was growing more frigid
by the minute. The beaten and bloodied man shivered among
the stones, unable to even lift his head. On the
corner of his eye, he saw a levite. He was
wearing his elegant robes of different colors and hummed to

(05:49):
a tune sung in the synagogues. When the levites saw
the man quivering by the wayside, he cringed and shuffled
over to the other side of the road, pretending not
to see him. The priest and a levite had rejected him.
The man was certain he would die within minutes. Night
was approaching and the earth was basking in the last
moments of sunlight, the cold wind blew through the canyons

(06:11):
by the road. At this point, the man was completely unconscious.
A Samaritan, one of the people reviled by Israel, was
passing by the road. He hoped to find an inn
by nightfall, so he was in a rush. That was
until he saw the man on the side of the road.
The Samaritan climbed down the rocks to the man. When
he saw that he was still alive, he carried him

(06:33):
on his back up the hill. The samaritan stumbled a
few times, scraping his knees on the jagged rocks, but
he kept going. He strapped the man to his donkey
and walked him into town. There he found an inn
intended to his wounds. He bound up his broken bones
and sowed up his torn flesh. For a whole night
and day, he tended to the man's every need. Once

(06:54):
the man was beginning to heal, the Samaritan paid the
innkeeper enough money to take care of the man for
a few more weeks. Then he turned to check up
on him. Jesus finished his story. The lawyer was doing
his best to hide his teary eyes Jesus turned to
him with a tender smile. Tell me which of the
three was a better neighbor, the priest, the levite, or

(07:17):
the Samaritan. The lawyer wiped his eyes and took a
deep breath. I suppose it was the one who should mercy,
he answered. Jesus patted the man on the back and said,
you go and do likewise. And with that Jesus stood
to his feet to tend to the crowd. His story
revealed deep truths that had been hidden by dogma and racism.

(07:38):
The Samaritans were considered undesirable and wretched people by the Jews.
They treated them like dogs more than humans. On the
other hand, priests and Levites were revered and admired. Jesus
told the story of the good Samaritan to show that goodness, mercy,
and kindness can come from unexpected places. It showed Jesus's

(07:59):
heart that he was not concerned with cultural boundaries, but
human kindness.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
In the parable that Jesus tells. This story begins with
an expert in Jewish religious law questioning the Lord. He
was not simply asking a question, but really testing Jesus.
This was not uncommon in that time. His students would
ask questions to teachers in a public forum like this.
But while his actions weren't necessarily wrong, clearly his motives were.

(08:34):
This man is a self righteous lawyer, and he's attempting
to trap Jesus, as the religious leaders have been trying
to do now for some time. Jesus is very controversial,
so he asked Jesus what was required for him to
inherit eternal life. Jesus then turned the question back on
the lawyer, pointing to the Torah, the law of the Jews,

(08:54):
and ask the man how he reads it. The man,
of course, knows all the right answers. He's a lawyer
who is well prepared, so he responds with the twofold
commandment to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength,
and then to love your neighbor as yourself. It was
a textbook answer, and the man knew it. Jesus congratulated

(09:15):
him on his right answer and told the man to
go and do those things as if it were easy,
and he would inherit eternal life. Of course, Jesus knew
that the law itself could not give this man, or
any man, eternal life. Rather, it served to point us
to the need for the savior. The law points us

(09:37):
to the Lord himself. This man wasn't satisfied with the
Lord's answer. He didn't want to be just right. He
wanted to justify himself. So he asked Jesus, who is
my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? That is a very
important question, isn't it, And we need to know the
answer to that question as well. Jesus tells us this story.

(10:02):
Rather than give us a list of the people that
we should love, Jesus told this story, which is very familiar.
A man was traveling on a dangerous road alone. It
was a path known to harbor thieves who would attack
travelers and rob them and so on. Yet the man
foolishly put himself in a vulnerable position, and sure enough,

(10:24):
he was attacked. He was robbed, beaten, and left for dead.
Can you picture some of those listening to this story thinking, well,
that serves him right. What was he thinking going there
doing that? So the man is laying there, helpless and dying.
Then a priest appeared on the road. This was a
godly and righteous man by most anyone's standards. Surely he

(10:47):
would help. But rather than help, the priest crossed the
road and walked by as far as he could, away
from the dying, dirty, bleeding man. Next came a Levite.
This man knew what worship was. He helped priest in
the temple and led the people in songs of praise.
If anyone should know the heart of God, it should
have been this man. But he too crossed the road

(11:10):
and walked on the other side, way out of reach,
ignoring the man whose life was draining from his body.
By now the crowd listening to Jesus must have been perplexed,
or maybe they were even waiting for Jesus to tell
them that, like these two godly men so called, that
they also could walk by on the other side of
the road and not pay attention to people's needs. But

(11:34):
of course that's not what they heard. Jesus then introduces
another traveler, a Samaritan. Now the Samaritan was the least
likely hero. They were despised by Jews, what good could
come from Samaria? But this Samaritan man saw the broken man,
the bleeding man, and he had mercy on him. He

(11:55):
stopped and cared for the stranger. He saw him and
had compassion upon him. He attended to his immediate needs.
But he didn't stop just there. He loaded the man
onto his animal and took him to a nearby end,
where he paid for the man to be lodged, fed,
and cared for, promising to return and settle any remaining debt.

(12:15):
It was an outpouring of generosity that would have shocked
everyone listening. We then hear the exchange between Jesus and
the lawyer in Luke ten thirty six and thirty seven.
Which of these three do you think proved to be
a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?
He said, the one who showed him mercy, And Jesus

(12:36):
said to him, you go and do likewise, you go
and do the same. Here's what we learn in this story.
Every person in need is our neighbor. It goes beyond
the physical and cultural, and political or even religious boundaries
that we may cherish. When we love God with all
of our hearts, minds, soul and strength, then we will

(13:00):
others the way God loves others, and we have the
power of His spirit to help us do this. It's
a sacrificial love that we're incapable of on our own,
and one that Jesus would demonstrate to the whole world
by dying on the cross, to pay the debt for
our sin, to die for us because we were dying
in our sins, to give us hope and to receive life.

(13:22):
This is the love, the agape, love, the compassion that
Jesus has for every one of us. Now in Christ,
we should show that same love to others and in
the name and in the power of God, meet needs
all around us. Dear God, thank you for showing us
what love really is and how we are to love

(13:43):
our neighbors and that anyone who has a need is
our neighbor. Help us to love people as you love
people without limitations. Thank you for sending Jesus your son
to rescue us when we were dying and helpless. That
you lifted us because you loved us. In Jesus' name, Amen,

(14:04):
Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
This is Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download
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(14:27):
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God bless you.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
This episode is sponsored by Meta Share, an innovative healthcare
solution for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality