Luke 10:25-37 (for Congress)

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

²⁶"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

²⁷He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

²⁸"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

³⁰In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

³⁶"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

^37aThe expert in the law, a republican, replied, "Had there truly been a neighbor, he would have prayed for the man. He would have wrung his hands. Then the Samaritan would have told the man that had he been responsible, he would have purchased insurance for himself. He would have explained to the that it was too expensive to help him."

^37bAnother expert in the law, a democrat, not to be outdone, said, "Teacher, we know that we should help the man, but we can't explain to our colleagues how it won't actually cost us any more money to help the man. As a compromise, we've determined that we will love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind.' The second part we will take up when the economy is more like it was in the 90's. We would have taken care of the man then, but we were cutting our wasteful ways, and besides, the mean guys on the other side wouldn't let us."

^37bThe first expert jumped back in. "Teacher, we know that God would not desire us to behave in such a socialistic manner. Could we hear the story where we love our neighbor by going to the local store, buying a bunch of guns, and hunting down the robbers and killing them? Something more like an Old Testament story?"

Jesus threw up his hands and said, "Would it be easier if we just made the neighbor the priest or the Levite? Do not trouble yourselves with such complications as raised by the Samaritan, go and be as the priest or the Levite. I am sure God will be just as happy."