Week 3: New Testament Parables Assignments - Reading - Resources - Images

Good Samaritan (Luke) Reading time: 3 minutes. Word count: 600 words.

Now you will be moving from the gospel of Thomas to parables from the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. You will immediately notice a dramatic change in the presentation of the parables. In the gospel of Thomas, the parables and sayings are simply presented in a list. Now, in the canonical gospels, the parables are inserted into a FRAME. Sometimes the frame is a dialogue that Jesus is having with another person, which is what you will see here. Does it remind you of how the Budda told his stories in the forms of dialogues with other people? In this story, you will see Jesus having a dialogue with a lawyer, and in answer to this lawyer's question he tells one of the most famous parables: the story of the Good Samaritan. The crucial point about the story of the "Good Samaritan" is the social status of the Samaritan when this story was told: the Samaritans were traditional enemies of the Jews, mistrusted and even hated. Because of this Biblical story, the word "Samaritan" now has many positive connotations for English speakers, but in its original context, the phrase "Good Samaritan" was a paradox, almost like saying a "Good Enemy."

King James version:

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
And Jesus answering said,

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.
Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

World English Bible version:

Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
Jesus answered,

“A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’

"Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
He said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Questions. Make sure you can answer these questions about what you just read: how was the man wounded? who are the two people who refused to help the wounded man? what did the Samaritan do to help the wounded man? Source: Luke, Chapter 10 - King James version. Website: Hypertext King James Bible. World English Bible. Website: WEB World English Bible.

Modern Languages MLLL-2003. World Literature: Frametales. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. Page last updated: October 9, 2004 12:48 PM