Luke 10:25–37 · Visual Bible Story
The Good Samaritan
Jesus told of a wounded traveler who was left beside the road. Two people passed him by, but a Samaritan stopped, cared for him, and made sure he was safe. The story shows what neighbor-love looks like when mercy becomes action.
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Bible Story for Kids
The Story
A simple, visual retelling of Luke 10:25–37.
The traveler sets out
Jesus told of a man traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him and left him hurt beside the road.
A priest passes by
A priest saw the wounded traveler, but he crossed to the other side and continued on his way.
A Levite passes too
A Levite also saw the man and kept walking. The traveler was still alone and needed help.
The Samaritan shows mercy
A Samaritan stopped, cared for the man, and carried him on his own animal toward a safe place.
Care continues at the inn
The Samaritan paid the innkeeper to care for the traveler. Jesus told His listener to go and show the same mercy.
Bible Story for Adults
The full story
Jesus tells this parable in response to a question about eternal life and the limits of neighbor-love. This full adult version follows both the roadside encounter and the conversation that gives it its searching meaning.
The question behind the dangerous road
An expert in the law stands to test Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responds by asking what is written in the law and how the man reads it. The answer brings together love for God with the whole person and love for one’s neighbor as oneself. Jesus affirms the answer and directs him to live accordingly.
The man then asks who his neighbor is. Luke explains that he wants to justify himself. The question can sound like a sincere request for a definition, but it also seeks a boundary: which people fall inside the obligation to love, and which may fall outside it? Jesus answers by telling a story rather than drawing the requested line.
A man travels from Jerusalem toward Jericho and is attacked by robbers. They strip him, beat him, and leave him half dead. Jesus does not first establish the traveler’s moral character, occupation, or usefulness to society. The listener meets him as a wounded human being. His urgent need becomes the reality against which the actions of everyone who follows will be measured.
Read this passage in the Bible →The priest sees and passes by
A priest happens to be traveling along the same road. He sees the man and passes by on the other side. Jesus supplies no conversation between them and no explanation of the priest’s thoughts. The detail the parable emphasizes is the separation between seeing a need and responding to it.
Readers sometimes try to excuse the priest by inventing a schedule, a danger, or a concern about ritual purity. Such possibilities may be discussed, but the story itself does not identify a motive. It is important not to turn speculation into the text. Whatever explanation a listener might imagine, the injured traveler is left without help.
The priest’s role makes the failure especially searching. Familiarity with worship and religious responsibility has not become mercy in this encounter. Jesus does not suggest that every priest behaves this way; He uses this particular character to challenge the assumption that standing, training, or recognition guarantees faithful action. The question about neighbor-love has moved from an abstract definition to a person lying beside a road, and religious identity alone has not answered it.
Read this passage in the Bible →The Levite repeats the same choice
A Levite comes to the place, sees the wounded man, and also passes by on the other side. A second opportunity for help disappears. The repetition makes the traveler’s vulnerability more pronounced: he has been noticed, but noticing has not become care. The listener can no longer confuse the absence of help with a lack of awareness.
The two passersby belong to recognized religious roles. Their example exposes a gap between the command to love and the response to suffering. The parable does not invite the hearer to enjoy feeling superior to them. It invites self-examination, especially where respectable explanations or established routines can make avoidance feel acceptable.
Then Jesus introduces a Samaritan. The historical hostility between Jews and Samaritans makes this an unexpected choice for the person who will embody neighbor-love. The listener is being asked to receive an example of faithfulness from across a social and religious divide. Jesus is not merely adding a third traveler to complete a pattern. He is challenging the boundaries through which the original question had tried to organize the obligation to love.
Read this passage in the Bible →Compassion changes the journey
The Samaritan sees the injured man and has compassion. Unlike the two people before him, he approaches. He treats the wounds with oil and wine, binds them, places the traveler on his own animal, and brings him to an inn. Each action moves the story from an inward response toward concrete help.
The assistance requires resources. The Samaritan gives time, supplies, effort, and transportation, and his journey changes because another person cannot manage alone. Jesus does not tell us that the two men share a background, friendship, or set of beliefs. The need is sufficient to call forth care. Compassion becomes visible in what the Samaritan actually does.
This is also sustained attention rather than a moment of sentiment. Bringing the man to shelter does not end the Samaritan’s involvement; he cares for him there. The scene challenges a definition of love that is satisfied with feeling concerned at a safe distance. It also makes the moral direction plain: the appropriate response to vulnerability is not to determine whether the sufferer belongs to an approved category, but to seek the good that the situation calls for.
Read this passage in the Bible →Becoming a neighbor through mercy
The next day, the Samaritan gives the innkeeper two denarii and asks him to continue caring for the traveler. He promises to repay any additional expense when he returns. His help includes provision beyond the time he can personally remain. Mercy is practical enough to involve money, responsibility, and another person’s continuing work.
Jesus then asks which of the three proved to be a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers. This reverses the direction of the original question. Instead of identifying who qualifies to receive love, the listener must identify the person who has acted lovingly. The expert in the law answers that it was the one who showed mercy. Jesus tells him to do likewise.
The parable ends with a call to action, not merely an admiration of the Samaritan. For adult readers, it challenges the use of religion, convenience, or social boundaries to evade a concrete claim of need. Loving a neighbor does not require pretending that judgment and wise boundaries are irrelevant. It does require refusing to let those concerns become a permanent excuse for indifference. The question Jesus leaves is personal: will I become a neighbor through mercy?
Read this passage in the Bible →What does the Good Samaritan teach us?
The parable teaches that neighbor-love crosses social boundaries and is shown through compassionate action, not merely good intentions.
Read it in the Bible: Luke 10:25–37
Open the Bible →Questions about this story
What is the story of the Good Samaritan?
Jesus tells of a wounded traveler who is passed by until a Samaritan stops, cares for him, and makes sure he is safe. The story shows what it means to love a neighbor through mercy and action.
Where is the Good Samaritan found in the Bible?
Luke 10:25–37. Use the AskJesus Bible library to read the passage in context.