Episode 201: Inspired by the Book of Gospels

The Good Samaritan

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.

Luke 10:37

In our last episode, we heard Jesus’ teaching on just how great our debt to God is, and why His forgiveness of our sins should motivate us to forgive others. It was a lesson on showing mercy and forgiveness as a response to God’s immense grace toward us. Today we’ll hear another parable from Jesus, this time to illustrate what it means to love our neighbor and who our neighbors really are. His teaching flies in the face of many of the assumptions of Jewish culture and religious piety at the time and sets a high standard for loving as God loves.