The Good SamaritanJesus told people "Love your neighbor." "Who is my neighbor?" some people asked. "Let me tell you a story," Jesus said. "Once there was a man who was travelling along a road. Robbers came and knocked the man down and stole everything he was carrying. He was hurt and he could hardly move and he had no money." "There were people walking by along the road," Jesus said. "First, one man walked who lived nearby came along and saw him. 'Oh that poor man,' he said to himself, 'Someone should help him. But I'm in a hurry and cannot stop and help.'" "Then, a rich man from the nearby town came along. 'Oh look at that,' he said to himself, 'I wonder what happened to that man. Well, I can't help him.'" "But one man, who was a traveller from a country called Samaria, was walking along the road. He saw that the man was hurt and decided to help." "He used his own shirt to wrap the man's wounds. He used his donkey to bring the man to an inn. He paid the innkeeper for the man's room, because the man's money had been stolen." As Jesus and his friends talked and ate their meal, they talked more about the story. While they talked, they imagined the good meal that the Samaritan man and his new friend must have had at the inn that evening. Discussion: Notice that Jesus answered a question with a story. It's a story within a story. The question was about love and this is a love story -- what kind of love? Craft: Create booklets retelling the story. Or use this as a Valentine's Day story, and make valentines for family members and church members. J.M.L. |
