The religious expert knew he should love his “neighbor.” However, he seemed to
think (or hope?) that left room for NOT loving lots of people. Jesus’ story asks, “What
if everyone might be a neighbor?” What if I’m willing to offer true help (avoiding
codependency or reinforced helplessness) to any person I can, no matter who they are?

• Centuries of anger and fear divided Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ day. Are there long-standing divisions that affect you personally (business enmity, family disputes, maybe even a sports rivalry)? How easy or hard do you find it to treat the person(s) on the other side of those rifts as your neighbor?
• Jesus made a Samaritan the hero of his story. That was like telling an Israeli today a story in which the hero is a Palestinian. Was Jesus naïve to think that it’s possible to move beyond long-standing anger and hatred between people groups? How did his approach differ from human peace-making efforts?