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Today's passage contains one of Jesus' best-known parables. The Parable of the Good Samaritan merits study in its own right. But today, let's look at this familiar passage through a different lens, asking ourselves why Jesus told it. What in the questioner's life was the master Teacher putting His finger on?

Luke 10:25-37

1. Does the religion scholar's question (v. 26) strike you as a legitimate question?
2. Was this really an innocent question or an attempt to "get" Jesus (v. 25)?
3. Why do you think Jesus focused on how the scholar read the law of Moses rather than on what he read there?
4. Was there anything wrong with the scholar's knowledge of Scripture?
5. How does Jesus both affirm the scholar's answer and challenge it (v. 28)?
6. How do we know (v. 29) there was something terribly wrong with how the scholar read Scripture?
7. How was asking for a definition of the word neighbor a way of avoiding responding personally to the text?
8. Why wouldn't Jesus play the scholar's game of dissecting the text without submitting to it?
9. How did Jesus force the scholar to personally interact with the Scripture (vv. 36-37)?

Ask God to give you a thirst for His Word and a readiness to submit to its authoritative instruction for your life.

25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: "Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?" 27 The man answered, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

28 "Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!" 29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 Jesus replied with a story: "A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

31 "By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 33 "Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.

34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.' 36 "Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy." Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Help me feel the living intensity of Your Word; make me responsive to its radical demands.

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