What is your opinion on the good Samaritan story? Luke 10?

Question

Lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. The answer was love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. And, Love neighbor as yourself. And who is the neighbor? A "lowly" Samaritan who was living this message. So, if a person of unknown belief system who was looked down upon during that time period can have eternal life, then Christians and non Christians alike can as well, agree?

Todd..yes, good point. The Samaritan was loving neighbor and thus showing his love for God as well (trusting God)...whether he believed in God or not....so, yes, I believe the point Jesus was making is in the question.

Martin..that's right, if you go through Jesus (Love), then you are on the right path.

Martin..that's right, if you go through Jesus (Love), then you are on the right path.

Actually, I should say if you go through Love (Jesus), then you have "salvation"...which is really finding heaven within yourself. Again, it does not mean being of a particular faith.

Answer 1

:)

Yes, I do agree.
Thank you for posting this. Your question is very cool.

Amen!

Have a nice evening, neighbor!

Answer 2

Well you got the story mixed up. Jesus does not say the Samaritan receives eternal life. And in fact he seems to suggest that "love your neighbour as yourself" is in fact a seperate act from loving God with all your heart. The Samaritan does what is right, and Jesus in fact goes into great detail with his explanation of what he does. He even pays the inn where he brings the man and says he will reimburse extra costs the innkeeper makes! I think the point is unambigiously that compassion does not come from love of God. And since many Christians seem to think it does, they may want to read it again and reconsider. Are you really compassionate because you love God? Or are those things completely unrelated?

Answer 3

Christians & non-Christians will all have eternal life. There's just one little thing about it. The two groups will, unfortuneately spend it in 2 very different places. The Samaritans of that day were looked down upon as though they were dirt. Other people who were looked up to for their devotion to the law came by that person who needed help, but guess who stopped to help the man by the wayside, the Samaritan. That act of kindness showed what was in his heart, even under persecution. His is the kind of heart that God is looking for to be part of his Church. Your neighbor means anyone you come in contact with in life, not just the person next door. Read John 3:16, and Acts 2:38.

Answer 4

"So, if a person of unknown belief system who was looked down upon during that time period can have eternal life, then Christians and non Christians alike can as well, agree?"

Sorry, but that is not what Jesus taught. Jesus used a Samaritan in this story in comparison to a Priest and a Levite who probably were on their way to the temple and who couldn't risk becoming unclean by stopping near a man who might be dead or something like that. That was a constant theme of Jesus' ministry, that when people interpreted the law in a way that it stopped them from doing good to others then they had a wrong idea of what God wanted from them. The story has nothing to do with salvation. Here are a few places where Jesus taught about that issue.

John 3:3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."...16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 4:9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock."

13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Answer 5

God Bless you....

But you have missed the point...the point wasn't that the good Samaritan had gained salvation...Jesus never says anything about the Samaritan's salvation...the point was that the Jews in the story were so focused on observance of their law and customs that they disobeyed God. God calls us to love our neighbor--that means to treat a stranger as we would want to be treated. Jesus was pointing out that mere obeyance of the law wasn't enough. We have to love people and trust God. That is the way to salvation....

Answer 6

I love the samaritan story
and well
I agree :o)

Answer 7

We dont know, anyone who tells you who is going to make it to heaven or who isn't is wrong. Only God can judge what is on your heart. "Judge not lest you be judged" Be the best person you can be and I think the rest is up the big guy.

Answer 8

agree