BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: LUKE 10:25-37 2
Biblical Critique: The Good Samaritan
The story of the Good Samaritan, from the Gospel according to Luke, highlights Jesus’s
commitment to showing and sharing compassion, mercy, and patience. As Jesus exercised
patience when tested by the lawyer, Barsky (2017) demonstrates that patience plays a significant
role in helping individuals and groups effectively manage and resolve conflicts peacefully and
constructively. In the story of the Good Samaritan, a Samaritan shows his compassion by helping
a man who was robbed and beaten on the side of a road, even after two others of higher nobility
passed by. This story teaches about the need to set aside man’s societal prejudice and step up to
help those in need. The teachings that are embedded in the Good Samaritan have practical
application to recent world issues, educational pedagogy, and conflict resolution.
Read
Fact Verses
1. A lawyer approaches Jesus and questions
eternal life.
25
2. Jesus asks the lawyer to recite what is
written in Law and how the lawyer interprets
it.
26
3. The lawyer correctly answers, and Jesus
commends him.
27-28
4. The lawyer asks for clarification on one’s
neighbor, and Jesus responds with the story of
the Good Samaritan.
29-30
BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: LUKE 10:25-37 3
5. In the story, a man is robbed and left with
injuries.
31
6. In the story, an injured man is passed by a
priest and a Levite.
32
7. A Samaritan stopped to help the injured
man.
33
8. The Samaritan treated the wounds and
covered the costs of the man’s injuries.
34-35
9. After the story, Jesus asked the lawyer
which of the three men was the injured man’s
neighbor.
36
10. The lawyer acknowledges that the Good
Samaritan is the one who honored his
neighbor.
37
11. Jesus urges the lawyer to do as the Good
Samaritan did to honor his neighbor.
37
Reflect
What do you see in the passage that relates
to God’s character, man’s character, or
Jesus?
Verses
Man’s character The parable on the Good Samaritan speaks
to man’s character of societal prejudice, as
two men of more nobility did not stop to
help the robbed man. The story also shows
that some men have the characteristic of
31-32
BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: LUKE 10:25-37 4
selflessness, as the Good Samaritan used
his time and resources to help an injured
man he did not know.
34-35
Jesus’s character The story speaks to Jesus’s commitment to
compassion and mercy by sharing how the
Good Samaritan actions exemplify the love
and care for each other that Jesus preaches.
34-35
Respond
The story about the Good Samaritan, in how Jesus was able to help a lawyer work out his
conflicted views of a neighbor, has applications to modern world issues. Barsky (2017) presents
a list of personality traits that help foster effective conflict resolution, and compassion is one of
those characteristics. Throughout the world, many war-based conflicts and natural disasters have
stricken many people's lands. These have left people without homes, food, water, and medical
care. Like the Good Samaritan did to help the man who was robbed on the side of the road,
countries around the world need to step up to provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
Caravani et al. (2021) discuss that while there is a considerable risk involved for countries to
enter foreign lands to provide humanitarian aid, we have a moral obligation to provide support,
and countries need to develop policies and protocols to reduce the risk to help others in need.
There are safeguards in place that protect students so they do not fall victim to societal
prejudice due to their ability to learn, their background, or socioeconomic status. In line with
Jesus’s teachings of compassion, previous federal executive and legislative bodies have
established federal protections in public schools that do not allow students to be discriminated
BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: LUKE 10:25-37 5
against. One example of the protections created in Title I is that educational facilities must
provide intervention to students who are identified as economically disadvantaged and at risk of
not achieving at certain levels. Researchers have found that low-income kindergarten students
are more likely to improve their pre-literacy skills when provided with research-based
interventions, like those outlined in Title I regulations (Allee-Herndon et al., 2021). As the Good
Samaritan did with the injured man, schools should honor and do what is best for their neighbors,
regardless of background, and federal protections are in place to ensure this happens.
The story of Jesus sharing the Good Samaritan parable highlights the importance of
empathy, compassion, and patience in conflict resolution. Barsky (2017) indicates that some
conflict resolution situations begin with understanding the perspective and feelings of others
involved in the dispute. The Good Samaritan illustrated the need for empathy and compassion to
help others solve their problem by helping the injured man who was robbed. In the passage,
Jesus shows patience when the lawyer questions how Jesus would define a neighbor he must
honor. One of the most important aspects of conflict resolution is patience, and the Book of
Proverbs offers more defense of the need to have the wisdom to be patient as “it is to one’s glory
to overlook an offense” (New American Bible, 1970/200, Proverbs 19:11).
Conclusion
The Bible, especially the story of the Good Samaritan, contains lessons about showing
compassion for others while setting aside societal prejudices. World leaders need to use Jesus’s
teaching about honoring their neighbor and lead humanitarian efforts when others are in need.
Educational systems have safeguards to ensure that all students, regardless of background, have
equitable access to learning. In conflict resolution, showing compassion, patience, and the ability
to set aside differences to solve a dispute effectively is critical. The Bible further teaches about
BIBLICAL CRITIQUE: LUKE 10:25-37 7
References
Allee-Herndon, K. A., Roberts, S. W., Hu, B., Clark, M. H., & Stewart, M. L. (2021). Exploring
the possible play-based pedagogy on language and literacy learning in two Title I
kindergarten classrooms. Early Childhood Journal, 50(1), 119-132.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01141-6
Barsky, A. (2017). Conflict resolution for the helping professions: Negotiation, mediation,
advocacy, facilitation, and restorative justice. Oxford University Press.
Caravani, M., Lind, J., Sabates-Wheeler, R., & Scoones, I. (2021). Providing social assistance
and humanitarian relief: The case for embracing uncertainty. Development Policy Review,
40(5), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12613
New American Bible. (2011). Catholic Book Publishing Corporation. (Original work published in
1970)
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