The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan During His time on earth, Jesus often used storytelling to teach people about God. His teaching often contradicted the predominant and pride-filled religiosity of Jewish leaders. This story of the good Samaritan is one of Jesus’ best-known stories, and it illustrates how we should love and show mercy to others. To fully understand this story, we need to understand the culture in which it was told. In biblical times, Samaritans were a racially mixed society that worshiped Yahweh, but did not adhere to all the tenants of traditional Judaism. The Jews considered Samaritans the lowest and most unclean of people, and they treated all Samaritans with disdain. So the concept this story offered would have seemed entirely contradictory to them. In Jewish culture, there was no such thing as a good Samaritan. This, however, is the beauty of the story. Jesus shows us that loving and caring for others is the way to live. He put treatment of others far above observance of religious practices. Jesus came for everyone, and our responsibility is to demonstrate that perfect love and mercy to every person we meet.