In Luke 10:25–37 Jesus is confronted by a legal expert who puts him to the test by asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Since this is a legal expert, Jesus explores this lawyer’s own understanding of the statutes. And the lawyer does well by citing a combination of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
Bingo! Jesus affirms that this is exactly right.
But the lawyer can’t leave well enough alone (after all, he’s a lawyer, right?), so he then goes after the “fine print” by asking Jesus to further refine that legal statute, “So just WHO IS my neighbor?”
In response, Jesus tells the famous story of the “Good Samaritan” who compensates for the failure of both a Jewish priest, and a Levite by compassionately helping a beaten man on the side of the road.
But upon careful examination, it becomes powerfully evident that Jesus has shockingly written Himself into the story in the form of that Good Samaritan!