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March 30, 2026

Pre-Evangelism and the Good Samaritan: Why Jesus used a parable to show a "righteous" man his failure

By Jason Neill

Scripture reading: Luke 10:25-37

Have you ever been asked a question in such a way that you suspected the intent was to trap you? In those moments, the questioner isn’t so much seeking information as they are seeking to “catch you” in a mistake.

This week’s parable is a prime example of this dynamic. A religious leader poses a question to Jesus, not because he is genuinely interested in the answer, but because he is looking for a way to find fault with Him.

The question revolved around entering heaven. “Teacher,” the religious leader called Jesus, “what should I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25, NLT).

To appreciate the context of this encounter, you must understand that the religious leaders held a skewed view of how to enter the Kingdom. Jesus had already clearly rebuffed the so-called righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees in His Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5-7, especially 5:20). He warned His disciples and the crowd: “…unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 5:20, NLT).

His criticism of these leaders was well known. If the religious elite weren't righteous enough to enter heaven, then the natural, perhaps slightly defensive, question followed: “What should I do to inherit eternal life?”

Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t respond by immediately saying, "Believe in me for eternal life." Instead, He answers the question with another question: “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26, NLT). He points the man back to the Mosaic Law found in Exodus through Deuteronomy.

The man answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And, love your neighbor as yourself.” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” (Luke 10:27-28, NLT).

Wait—is Jesus teaching that a person must do good works to enter heaven? No. Jesus is doing what some Bible scholars call pre-evangelism.

The Mosaic Law was never meant to tell us how to get to heaven. Its intent was to show us how we have broken God’s standards, to help us see our spiritual condition for what it is: desperate and hopeless apart from God’s grace and mercy (for more on this, see Romans 2 and Galatians 3).

To squirm his way out of the requirement to love his neighbor, the man asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29, NLT). This is where the parable begins.

A man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, historically a dangerous road known for thieves, is attacked, stripped, beaten, and left for dead. The first two people to come across him would naturally be expected to be the heroes of the story, but they are not. Neither one helps.

Instead, the third man, a Samaritan, tends to the wounds, loads the victim onto his own donkey, and takes him to an inn. He even tells the innkeeper to charge his own account for any expenditures the man incurs. The Samaritan, a member of a people group hated by the audience of the first century, was the hero.

“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?’ Jesus asked. The man replied, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Yes, now go and do the same’” (Luke 10:36-37, NLT).  

Jesus’ point? Do you love God and your neighbor like that? Do you love like the Samaritan did?

The honest answer from the religious expert should have been, “No, I do not.” By highlighting the man's failure to keep the Law’s command to love his neighbor, Jesus was demonstrating that the man was spiritually bankrupt. He did not possess the righteousness he thought he had.

That is where the story ends. Doctor Luke never tells us how the questioner responded. Did he admit he was a sinner in need of mercy? We aren't told.

So, what is the application for us? If we hope to obtain the righteousness necessary to enter heaven, it must come by faith alone in Christ alone. Once a person trusts in Christ for the free gift of eternal life, God immediately bestows that life and declares the believer righteous in His sight. This isn't based on our deeds, but on what Christ did on our behalf, dying in our place as our substitute and rising from the dead on the third day.

The fact that Jesus rose from the dead verifies He can offer eternal life to all who believe in Him. That is great news! Now, let’s share it with as many people as possible.