Parable of the Good Samaritan.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a famous New Testament parable appearing only in the Gospel of Luke ( 10:25-37 ). The parable is told by Jesus to illustrate that compassion should be for all people, and that fulfilling the spirit of the Law is just as important as fulfilling the letter of the Law. Jesus puts the definition of neighbor into an enlarged context, beyond what people usually thought of as a neighbor. The incident begins when a religious scholar of the Law tests Jesus by asking him what is necessary to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks the lawyer what the Mosaic Law says about it. When the lawyer quotes the scripture , saying "Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and all your mind ( Deuteronomy 6:5 ), and the parallel law of "Love your neighbor as yourself" ( Leviticus 19:18 ), Jesus says that he has answered correctly — "Do this and you will live," he tells him. See also this section of Ministr...