The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of my favorite parables told by Jesus. In the parable, it talks about a traveler came across some robbers. They stropped him and beat him. They then left him, half dead. Sometime later, a priest walks past. The priest saw the traveler on the ground. Instead of helping the traveler, the priest went on the other side and walked passed the person. Later on, a Levite was walking down the same path and came across the traveler.
Like the priest before, the Levite went on the other side and passed by. Lastly, a Samaritan came across the man and decided to help him. The Samaritan put the traveler on his own animal and brought him to an inn. He departed the next day. Before he departed, he gave the host two denarii and told him to take care of the traveler. The Samaritan told the host that he would pay him when he returned.
During this time, Samaritans and Jews generally despised each other. In this story, it was the unlikely person that helped the man on the ground. You would think that the priest or the Levite would have helped the man because they were more likely, on the outside, to help him. But the story shows what they were truly like despite being a priest and a Levite. Don't get me wrong. Not every priest or Levite is like the people in the story, but that's not what this story is about. It shows, that no matter who you are on the outside, it's about the inside that matters. Each person could have helped him, and the person that was the less likely to help on the outside, helped him even though he was a Samaritan and the man was a Jew. He ignored that and helped a fellow human being. It showed what kind of a person he was on the inside.
The Samaritan took time out of his schedule to help this man, and get him to an inn. And no matter the cost, the Samaritan was willing to pay for the traveler's stay while he got better which would have been a really long time since he was half dead when the Samaritan found him. The Samaritan didn't have to do that, but he did it anyway because it was the right thing to do.
We could all be more like the Samaritan. Regardless of people's race, gender, class, sexuality, and so on, we are all human beings. When it comes down to it, we should put our differences aside, and help each other out; big or small. Be kind to one another. You don't have to like each other. That's not what I'm asking for you to do because you are not going to like everyone that you come in contact with, but we don't have to hate each other and be mean to one another.
We can all be like the Good Samaritan if we want to be.
