The Good Samaritan Analysis

The first five verses preluding into the parable was the lawyer wanting to discover how one receives salvation. He did not simply ask this question because he was curious, it was because he wanted to make it a test for Jesus to answer. The lawyer made a standing appearance to draw attention to his question and the answer that he was going to receive from Jesus. The lawyer ended with asking for clarification of who specifically his neighbor was. “He asked this question, therefore, in the expectation of securing such a definition of the word as would enable him to maintain his public standing and quiet his conscience” (Bible Study Tools). Stemming from the lawyer’s question, Jesus answered in the form of the parable. The parable of The Good Samaritan is broken into seven sections that come together to provide the deeper answer to the lawyer’s question. In the first section

Why the priest and the Levite did not stop, it is not known exactly why but, “the Samaritan was no different in that he was bound by the same Torah that also tells him that his neighbor is his countryman and kinsman. He is traveling in Judea and it is less likely for him than for the priest and the Levite that the anonymous man is a neighbor. In spite of this, he is the one who acts” (Bailey 48). Each man reacted differently as they saw the wounded man. The priest only went down the road, the Levite went to the place, but the Samaritan went to the man. While the Samaritan may have had more “advantages” in that he either knew that the priest and the Levite had already gone down the hill, or if he knew that the priest and the Levite were ahead of him and they didn’t stop, so someone eventually need to. But, despite all these considerations, the Samaritan felt a deep enough compassion that it immediately interpreted into his actions, helping the half dead