The Good Samaritan - the Attitude and Action of Charity
Many of us are familiar with the parable of the good Samaritan, found in Luke chapter 10. After "a certain lawyer" asks the Master, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The Master asks him what the law says, to which the lawyer responds "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God..and they neighbour as thyself. Jesus tells him he answered right and to do what he had said. The lawyer then asks, "Who is my neighbour?" The Master then tells the parable of the good Samaritan, where "a certain man" (we don't know what kind of man) was robbed, beat up, and left for dead. First a priest, and later a Levite, pass by without helping. A Samaritan, who are despised by the Jews, comes by stops, tends to the wounds, and takes the person to an inn where he pays the host to help the man as needed. While we are quick to condemn the priest and Levite, the Lord does not. At the end of the parable he basically asks a question to the questioner which ...