once while Jesus was preaching a man decided to test how good a teacher Jesus was
Jesus i have a question for you can you tell me what it is I should do so that I can live eternally in heaven
Jesus looked at him with a quiet smile for some time and then replied
Do you read the Bible? of course i do what kind of a question is that.
so if you read the Bible can you tell me what the Bible says
the Bible says that I should love God with my heart and soul and that I should love my neighbour as i love myself
well then there you have your answer
what i don't understand is who my neighbour is supposed to be whom I should love as I love myself
Jesus was quiet for a few moments and then reply the answer to that question is not so simple
let me explain it to you in a different way and this is the story Jesus related to the man for the answer he was seeking
a Jewish man was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho
there were may small Hills around the road he was walking with many rocks lying there
it was a lovely sunny day and the man was softly singing to himself as he walked along
suddenly as he was passing a small hill some men came running out from behind the hill and charged at him
they took away everything that the man had even tearing away his clothes
the evil robbers beat up the poor man mercilessly he was bleeding badly
but they just kicked him even more and left him by the roadside
soon after a priest came walking down the road
when he saw the bleeding man he thought to himself
I wonder who that fellow lying there is I don't know what has happened to him
but Iam already very late I do not have the time to stop and help him
i'm sure someone else will come and do something he looks dead to me already anyway
the priest just crossed the road and continued walking without a backward glance
a little while later 11:00 a man whose job was to help priests in their work happened to pass down the same road
he too saw the beaten and bleeding man lying there
he stopped for a moment and slowly made his way up to the man
i cannot make out if this fellow is dead or alive
even if he is alive I doubt he will be alive for long the way he is bleeding
I don't think I can help him in any way I better be going along on my way
the love I too left the injured man without even trying to help them and walked away hurriedly
after about an hour two later a Samaritan was walking down the same road with his donkey
as soon as he saw the man lying on the road he ran up to him
now the Jews were known to dislike the Samaritans and treat them very badly
however this Samaritan did not even stop to think of all this
he just saw a bruised human being needing help very badly and because of his compassionate nature
went forward to try and do what he could Oh what has happened who has done this to you the man
the man opened his eyes and tried to talk but winced in pain when he tried to do it
you poor man i can see you are in a lot of pain don't try and talk now here let me have a look at your wounds
hmm they look quite bad don't you worry now I will try my best to see that you are comfortable and get well soon
the Samaritan went to his donkey and came back with a bag containing some oils and wine
he then proceeded to apply them on the man's wounds so that they would heal
when the man saw the Samaritan was doing he made a feeble attempt to stop him
no no too expensive
why are you looking at the cost of some oil and wine my good fellow at this moment it is your injuries that matter no money
now just relax and let me apply these to your wounds I'm sure they will give you some relief
the Good Samaritan very carefully applied the oil and wine to the injured man's wounds
and put on some bandages also to prevent them from getting infected
ah now that that is done let us get you to some end where you can rest and recover
very gently the Samaritan helped the man up on to his donkey and started leading him to the inn
after walking for a few hours they reached a small town where the Samaritan asked for directions to the nearest Inn
there we have arrived now just wait here for a few minutes while I talk to the man in charge about getting a room for you
no money I have told you not to worry about that I just want you to get well soon
the Samaritan went inside the inn and found the man who is in charge
my good man i have outside a man who is badly injured
I would be grateful if you could give him a comfortable room where he can recover
here I am leaving with you some money for his room as well as his food please take good care of him
and let him live here till he is recovered enough to go on his way
the inn owner assured him that the man would be taken care of him
the Samaritan then went outside helped the man down from the donkey and accompanied him to the room in the inn
well my friend it is time for me to leave I have taken care of everything you just rest and get well
don't know how to thank you
you don't have to thank me I have just done what the good Lord would have wanted me to do
when the story ended Jesus looked at the man who had questioned him
now can you tell me who do think would be your neighbour the priest the levite or the Samaritan
the Samaritan of course he was the only one who showed compassion to someone who badly needed help
you are right the priest is the one who serves God but he was indifferent to the plight of the man's pain
yes even the Levite who works in the house of the lord did not help
it was only the Samaritan who came to the man's help and he was helping a Jew
even though he knew that the Jews do not like Samaritans
yes Jesus i understand now who we should consider our neighbours who God wants us to love as we love ourselves
so if you want to go to heaven and lived eternally
love the whole with your whole being and love your neighbours too
ah it is good to be back I can't wait to meet the master
yes I'm sure Jesus will be very happy to see us
he will be even more happy when we tell him where we have been and what we have done
the disciples all headed to where Jesus was preaching they were very eager to talk to him
there he is come let's go to him there is so much to tell him
wait it won't be possible to talk to the master here
there are so many people around him then what should we do
in the meanwhile Jesus had spotted his disciples and came forward to meet them he embraced them all and said
you are all back I have just received news that John the Baptist has been beheaded
which has saddened me a lot but I'm also happy to see you all again Oh master
we can't express how happy we are to see you and we have so much to tell you Jesus looked
around at all the people gathered and said I don't think it would be possible to talk it
with so many people around there is an isolated place a little ahead let us make our way there so
that we shall not be disturbed I'm sure you must all be tired also and wanting to rest ourselves
however when the people saw Jesus leaving with the disciples they also joined them
and some even went ahead to the place Jesus was going to with his disciples many of them
had brought their ailing family and friends and had seen how Jesus had cured them and they just
wanted to follow him therefore when Jesus arrived there the place was already crowded
look at these people can't they leave us alone for some time why do they keep following you
master do not be angry with them but feel pity in your hearts for them these people are lost
they need someone to guide them don't worry we shall talk later Jesus walked towards the crowd
sat down on a lot and began to once again teach them after some time his disciple came up to him
and whispered in his ear my lord it is getting late and the nearest town is quite far away at
least now send these people away so that they can go and find something to eat in some nearby
village Jesus looked at the disciple for a long moment and then said to him would not be possible
for us to give them all something to eat what are you saying master have you any idea what it
would cost to feed this large crowd no you tell me the disciple became a bit uncertain as Jesus
kept looking at him calmly her well master I think that to feed this whole crowd it would cost about
as much as a man's wages for eight months hmm even no one here who has any food Peters brother
Andrew was listening to the conversation Jesus was having with his other disciple and he then
spoke up I did see a young lad over there with five small loaves of barley and two tiny fish
and how many people will that feed it will be hardly enough for the young lad himself Jesus
did not reply but kept looking at the crowd very calmly I see that after being away from me for so
long your faith in me has wavered oh no master please do not say that it is just that don't
worry it is now time again for you all to witness the glory of God so saying Jesus started to walk
slowly towards the crowd with his disciples following behind when they reached the spot
where the crowd was gathered the disciple once again went up to Jesus and whispered in his ear
master please do not mistake me but do you see the crowd there must be at least five thousand
people Jesus turned to him and once again smiled at him calmly do not ever doubt the glory of God
now all of you do my work go and ask the crowd to be seated on the grass and asked the young boy
with the barley loaves and fish to come up to me the disciples did as Jesus asked them and one of
them went up to the young boy and told him that Jesus wanted to see him here my lord is the boy
who has the loaves and fish come here my boy can show you what you have the young boy became very
nervous when Jesus called him and stood there hesitantly don't be afraid my child I just want
to see what you have to eat the boy walked up slowly to Jesus showing him the two small fish
and five loaves of barley oh those look good come give them to me and we shall all share your meal
what is the master doing that Neil is hardly sufficient for one person how is everyone going to
share it didn't Jesus just tell you not to doubt the glory of God don't you know him well enough by
now not to ever doubt him now wait and see what he does Jesus took the loaves and the fish from the
little boy and started praying when he finished he broke the Loews into small pieces and then asked
his disciples to give the pieces to the people after the loaves he did the same with the fish
to everyone's amazement there was enough bread and fish for all the people gathered there Oh
the disciple who had doubted what Jesus was doing fell at his feet my Lord forgive me never will I
ever doubt you again Jesus bent down and placed his hands on the disciples shoulders and then
embraced him come now let us also have the bread and fish after everyone had to eat in
their fill Jesus asked the disciples to gather up the leftovers Master there are twelve whole
baskets of fish and loaves left over the people who had eaten now became aware of what Jesus
had done they began chanting that he was the Prophet would come to the world to save them
Jesus realized that they would soon demand that he be made king which he did not want
thus as soon as he could he quietly withdrew and went away to the mountains by himself