"And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of all his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. {223} "Which now of these three thinkest thou," asked Jesus, "was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?" The lawyer answered, "He that shewed mercy on him." "Then said Jesus unto him. Go, and do thou likewise." [Sidenote: A discussion.] The priest, who was the specially appointed servant of God among his people, and the Levite, who was closely associated with the priest in his ecclesiastical duties, ought to have had compassion upon the unfortunate traveller. It is to be assumed that he was a Jew. He was therefore of the chosen people. He might lay claim to the services of the priest and the Levite who officiated in the temple of his God. Moreover, these men above all others should have known the passage quoted by the lawyer in answer to Jesus's question, "What is written in the law?"--a passage repeated by every Jew in each morning and evening prayer. But these men had seen only the letter of the law; they had never felt the spirit of it. At the most, the love of neighbor meant only the Jewish interpretation of the passage, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Of the broad interpretation placed by Jesus on the meaning of the word "neighbor," these men of the temple service knew nothing. [Sidenote: The real neighbor.] The Samaritan however who was an outcast in the eyes of the Jew, for whom God Himself could hold no love; an apostate and a degenerate from the rich blood of Israel as unclean in {224} the opinion of the orthodox Jew as the loathsome leper--the Samaritan felt the thrill of the spirit of the great commandment "Thou shalt love thy neighour as thyself." He manifested that divine love--and that to one from whom he was an alien--which Jesus enjoined when He said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." [Sidenote: The fulness of the answer.]