Friday, October 9, 2026
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 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 said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Historical Context
A lawyer, an expert in the law of Moses, stood up to test Jesus and asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus turned the question back on him, and the lawyer answered it himself: love God with everything you have, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus told him he was right, and that doing this would give him life. Wanting to justify himself, the lawyer pressed further and asked who counted as his neighbor.
Jesus answered with a story about a man going down a steep road from Jerusalem to Jericho. The man was beaten, stripped, and left half dead. A priest saw him and passed by on the other side. A Levite came to the same place, saw him, and did the same.
The one who stops is a Samaritan, and the hostility behind that detail was not small. Jews and Samaritans had hated each other for generations. Only shortly before this, a Samaritan village had refused to receive Jesus. That is the tension the lawyer’s question walked into.
Reflection
A priest and a Levite look at a wounded stranger and keep walking. The one who stops is from the group the lawyer’s people trusted least. He bandages the man’s wounds, carries him to an inn, and pays two denarii for his care, promising to cover whatever more it costs.
The lawyer had asked who counted as his neighbor. Jesus ended by asking which of the three became a neighbor to the man in the road, and the lawyer answered, “the one who showed him mercy.” You could hear the question turning around: from who counts as my neighbor to who acts like one.
Jesus does not leave it as something to think about; he ends with an instruction: go and do likewise. The mercy in this story shows up as wounds bandaged, a bill paid, and a promise to pay more if it takes more. Whatever line you have drawn around who deserves that help, go find whoever is on the wrong side of it and be a neighbor to them.