One day a teacher of the Law of Moses stood up and tried to trick Jesus by asking him a question, "teacher, what must I do to get life forever?" Jesus answered by a question, "what is written in the law?" what do you read there?"

The man answered by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, "you shall love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and all your strength, and with all your mind, and you must love your neighbor like you love yourself."

Jesus told him, "You have answered right. Do this and you will have life." But the man wanted to show that he was right for asking a question that he already knew the answer to, so he asked another question. He said, "And who is my neighbor?"

To answer this question Jesus told a story about a Jewish man who was beaten up and about three men who passed him on the road. The three men were a Jewish Priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. Now the priest and the Levite were religious men, who worked in the temple. But the Samaritan belonged to a half-breed people, half Jew and half non-Jew that were hated by the Jews.

Jesus said, "A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him. They tore off his cloths and beat him up. They left him lying there on the ground almost dead. Now by chance a Jewish priest was going down the road. When he saw the man, he went around him on the other side. Next, a Levite came to the place. When he saw him, he also went around him on the other side. But a Samaritan man was traveling that way; when he came to the man and saw him, he felt sorry for him. He went over to the man, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds for medicine and tied cloths over them. Now he had a donkey, so he put the man who was hurt on it and took him to an inn. There he took care of him. The next day the Samaritan gave some money to the man who worked at the inn and told him; take care of this hurt man. If you spend anything more on him, I will pay you back when I return."

Then Jesus asked, "Which of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man attacked by the robbers?" The teacher of the law answered, "The one who helped him." And Jesus said, "You go and act like this too." When Jesus said this, he was not just talking to the teacher of the law; he was talking to us too. He wants us to show love to other people who need help, even if they belong to another race.