The painting depicts the Good Samaritan administering to the beaten and injured man stripped of his clothing. A camel rests behind to the right. The scene takes place in a rocky desert setting reminiscent of the Holy Land.
When a lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29), the Savior responded by giving the parable of the good Samaritan. This lesson can help you follow Jesus’s example of loving one’s neighbor.
Helping those in need
Think of a time when someone helped you when you needed help.
Why do you think this person helped you?
How did you feel because of what this person did?
Ponder how likely you might be to help someone in need and why you might or might not help them. As you study, look for truths you learn about Jesus Christ that could increase your desire to help those who are in need.
A parable
One day while Jesus Christ was teaching, a lawyer asked Him what he needed to do to receive eternal life. The Savior taught that in order to inherit eternal life, we need to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbor as ourselves (see Luke 10:27). The lawyer then asked another question.
Read Luke 10:29, and consider marking the question the lawyer asked Jesus.
How would you answer the lawyer’s question?
Jesus responded to the lawyer’s question by telling a parable known as the parable of the good Samaritan. As you study this parable, keep in mind that the Samaritans and Jews generally despised each other and often avoided interacting with each other. One reason the Jews considered the Samaritans unacceptable was because Samaritans were partly Jewish and partly gentile and they mixed the religious beliefs of both.
Seeing the Savior in the parable
Read the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:30–35. You may also want to watch the video “Parable of the Good Samaritan” (5:11) as you follow along in your scriptures. This video is available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
As you study this parable, think about how the Samaritan is symbolic of Jesus Christ.
1. Record your responses to the following question in your study journal:
What can we learn about Jesus Christ from this parable? (Consider listing your responses to this question in your study journal.)
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
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Official portrait of Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 2010, August.
The Savior is our Good Samaritan, sent “to heal the brokenhearted” [Luke 4:18; see also Isaiah 61:1]. He comes to us when others pass us by. With compassion, He places His healing balm on our wounds and binds them up. He carries us. He cares for us.
(Neil L. Andersen, “Wounded,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 85)
What are some examples in the scriptures of the Savior doing what Elder Andersen described?
When has the Savior been like the good Samaritan for you?
Following the example of Jesus Christ
After giving the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus Christ, the master teacher, asked the lawyer what he had learned and invited the lawyer to act. Read Luke 10:36–37, looking for the Savior’s invitation to the lawyer.
How can you apply the Savior’s invitation in your own life?
What does this invitation teach you about the Savior’s feelings for all of Heavenly Father’s children?
We have many opportunities to follow the Savior’s counsel to “go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:37) in many different settings we find ourselves in, such as at home, at school, online, in our ward or branch, and among strangers.
2. Select one of the settings listed in the previous paragraph, and record your answers to the following questions in your study journal:
What are some specific ways you could follow the Savior’s example to show love to your neighbor in this setting?
What can make it difficult to show love to your neighbor in this setting?
If a person struggled to show love to their neighbor in this setting, what could you teach them about Jesus Christ that might help?
What is something you have felt prompted to do as a result of what you have studied today?
Optional: Want to Learn More?
How is the parable of the good Samaritan symbolic of our journey through life?
Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
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Official Portrait of Gerrit W. Gong. Photographed in 2018.
On our dusty roads to Jericho, we are beset upon, wounded, and left in pain.
Though we should help each other, too often we pass to the other side of the road, for whatever reason.
However, with compassion, the Good Samaritan stops and binds our wounds with wine and oil. Symbols of the sacrament and other ordinances, the wine and oil point us to the spiritual healing in Jesus Christ. The Good Samaritan puts us on His own donkey or, in some stained-glass accounts, carries us on His shoulders. He brings us to the inn, which can represent His Church. At the Inn, the Good Samaritan says, “Take care of him; … when I come again, I will repay thee” [Luke 10:35]. The Good Samaritan, a symbol of our Savior, promises to return, this time in majesty and glory.
(Gerrit W. Gong, “Room in the Inn,” Liahona, May 2021, 24–25)
Why did the Savior use a Samaritan rather than a Jew as the one who helped the wounded man?
President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:
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Official portrait of President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 2004.
There was considerable antipathy between the Jews and the Samaritans at the time of Christ. Under normal circumstances, these two groups avoided association with each other. It would still be a good, instructive parable if the man who fell among thieves had been rescued by a brother Jew.
His deliberate use of Jews and Samaritans clearly teaches that we are all neighbors and that we should love, esteem, respect, and serve one another despite our deepest differences—including religious, political, and cultural differences.
What should I do when opportunities to help others come at inconvenient times?
President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught:
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Official portrait of President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 2004.
Opportunities to serve others in meaningful ways, as we have covenanted to do, rarely come at convenient times. But there is no spiritual power in living by convenience. The power comes as we keep our covenants.
