Editorial November 6, 2000 Issue

Whatever happened to the priest and the Levite ...?

John L. Selover

We don't really know; Jesus' story doesn't say.

The story is a parable told by Christ Jesus about a good neighbor. From the Gospel of Luke, it opens with a question from a lawyer who asks Jesus how to gain eternal life (see 10:25–37). Jesus turns the question back to the lawyer, who answers "by the book" about loving God and loving one's neighbor. Jesus agrees with his answer. But the lawyer presses—asking Jesus to describe his neighbor.

Then follows the much-loved parable of the good Samaritan—the story of a traveler from Jerusalem to Jericho who is beaten and robbed along the way. In Jesus' illustration, a priest passes by without offering help, and a Levite does the same. Then a Samaritan traveling the road sees the traveler's plight, goes to him, and cares for the injured man before going his own way.

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