“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
The context of the story is critical. An expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?” (Luke 10:25.) The Good Samaritan story was prompted by a question about eternal destiny. Jesus responded by asking the expert for his understanding of Moses’ instructions to “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” The clear implication was that the way to eternal life is through absolute perfect fulfillment of the law. The legal expert responded, because he wanted to justify his actions, “And who is my neighbor?” (10:29). And Jesus told his story.
The “expert” in the law had conveniently limited the definition of “neighbor” and “neighborliness” to a select group of people. Jesus widened the definition to show that anyone can be a neighbor. Bleeding victims in the ditch are neighbors, and so are despised Samaritans.
More significantly, Jesus pointed out that human efforts at neighborliness or anything else prescribed by the law - fall far short of meriting eternal life.
There is a pervasive idea in Western culture that if we live a “good life” we get to go to heaven. But the parable about the Good Samaritan tells us this is a dangerous misunderstanding. The apostle Paul puts the matter beyond doubt: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Eternal life is about a free gift, that leads to a good life. Those who receive the gift will have a deep desire to live a good life. Just like the Samaritan!