A question about neighbours, a dangerous road, two men who passed by and one who stopped. Walk the road, look closer, and see the Savior who stops for us.
A lawyer asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. He answered with the law: love God, and love “thy neighbour as thyself.” Then, wanting to justify himself, he asked, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus answered with a story.
A man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho was robbed, beaten and left half dead. A priest saw him and passed by. A Levite looked and passed by. But a Samaritan had compassion. He bound up his wounds, set him on his own beast, took him to an inn and paid for his care. Jesus asked which one was a neighbour, and said, “Go, and do thou likewise.”
Eight stops from Jerusalem down to the inn. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
Part 2 of 7
The story, plainly
Four scenes: the question, the two who passed by, the one who stopped, and the inn. Look for the Savior in each one.
Read it plainly
The words that trip people up
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
Luke 10:25 “a certain Meaning: an expert in the law of Moses. stood up, and Meaning: tested. him”
Luke 10:29 “Meaning: wanting to show he was right.”
Luke 10:30 “stripped him of his Meaning: clothing.”
Luke 10:32 “a Meaning: a man of the tribe of Levi who helped at the temple.”
Luke 10:35 “gave them to the Meaning: the innkeeper.”
Part 3 of 7
Look closer
This is a parable. Jesus did not explain each detail, so some cards share details in the text, others share insights from prophets, and some share early Christian readings from an outside source. Each card says which.
0 of 9 turned
All nine. The road, the wounds, compassion, oil, wine, the beast, the inn, two pence and a promise to come again. Luke 10:30–35
Part 4 of 7
Where are you on the road?
People on this road were hurt, too busy to stop, ready to help, or asked to keep caring. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
Your choice is saved only on this device.
Try it
Stop or pass by?
Walk down the Jericho road one stop at a time. A light goes ahead of you, and the trail you’ve walked stays on the map. At the last stop, you choose.
“Go, and do thou likewise.” Luke 10:37
Part 5 of 7
Their world, their words
A little background helps us see why this story surprised the people who first heard it. Outside sources are labeled.
Apostle · Talmage
Knowing and doing
When Jesus said, “This do, and thou shalt live,” Elder Talmage writes: “These simple words conveyed a rebuke, as the lawyer must have realized; they indicated the contrast between knowing and doing.”4
He knew the law. Jesus asked him to live it.
Apostle · Talmage
As few neighbours as possible
Elder Talmage: “If he had to love his neighbors as he loved himself, he wanted to have as few neighbors as possible.”4
Jesus made the circle bigger.
Apostle · Talmage
Priests and Levites
Elder Talmage: “Jericho was prominent as a residence place for priests and Levites.” The two who passed by were men of the temple.4
Knowing the law did not make them stop.
Apostle · Talmage
A Samaritan?
Elder Talmage: “To a Jew, none but Jews were neighbors.” “That the merciful one was a Samaritan, showed that the people called heretic and despised by the Jews could excel in good works.”4
The hero was the one they least expected.
Outside · BYU Studies
An early Christian reading
Welch: “Before modernity, Christians read this parable allegorically, with the Samaritan, for example, aptly typifying Christ.”5
Many early Christians saw the Savior in the Samaritan.
Bible Hub: “To have compassion, to be moved with compassion,” from a word for “the inward parts.”6Outside · lexicon
The same word describes Jesus: “he was moved with compassion on them.”2
Word study · Greek
plēsion πλησίον · “neighbour” (Luke 10:29)
Bible Hub: “near,” from a word meaning “close by.”7Outside · lexicon
Jesus turned the question around: not who is near me, but whom will I draw near to?1
What the text does not say
Jesus did not explain each detail of this parable, so readings of the oil, the wine, the inn and the coins are labeled as early Christian readings from an outside source.5 What He did say is plain: “Go, and do thou likewise.”1
Part 6 of 7
Look to Him
The Savior asked us to be like the Samaritan, and He is the one who stops for us.
Elder Thomas S. Monson: “Each of us, in the journey through mortality, will travel his own Jericho Road.”
Elder Thomas S. Monson, “Your Jericho Road,” April 19773
“Will I fail to notice him who has fallen among thieves and requires my help? Will you?”
“thanks to the intervention of the Lord, who is the Good Samaritan.”
Hugh Nibley, quoted by John W. Welch, BYU Studies5Outside
Gospel of Matthew
Moved with compassion
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Matthew 9:36
Gospel of Luke
The great commandment
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” Luke 10:27
The lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus asked, “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?” How does that change the question?
The priest and the Levite were men of the temple. What can keep good people from stopping?
Many have seen the Savior in the Samaritan. When has He come to you right where you were?
Sources
Every quotation, gloss, and piece of background on this page is listed here: scripture first, then Church sources, then outside scholarship (labeled).
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
The Good Samaritan is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for April 12–18, 2027 (Matthew 18; Luke 10).
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. This is a parable; the early Christian readings in “Look closer” are labeled as outside sources.
