The Story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

One day a man stood up to ask Jesus a question. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you understand it?” He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength and with all your mind.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5) And, ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ” (Leviticus 19:18) “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do that, and you will live.” But the man was curious. So he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ​ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him, beat him up and took all of his possessions. Then they went away, leaving him hurt, injured, and almost dead. A priest happened to be going down that same road. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. Very soon another person also came by. When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side too. But when the third person came, a Samaritan, he came to the place where the man was. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him. He went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey. He brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins. He gave them to the owner of the inn. ‘Take care of him,’ he said. ‘When I return, I will pay you back for any extra expense you may have.’ ​ “Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?” ​ The man who asked the question previous now responded, “The one who felt sorry for him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do as he did.”

NOTE: Key things to explain to your child are the importance of a Samaritan in this instance and how there were issues. This man found kindness from the most unlikely of places. Another important thing to remember is that you as the parent should keep the story age appropriate. Peers in Christ have tried to make this as biblical as possible which means for younger children it is possible to say something like "bad men attacked him and took everything he had", rather then robbers and possesions.