LESSON: THE GOOD SAMARITAN THE MIRACLE OF MERCY
SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:25-39 (TLB)
MEMORY VERSE: Treat others, as you want them to treat you. Luke 6:31 (NLT)
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What was Jesus telling the expert in Jewish law when he
said, Yes, now go and do the same?
WHAT CHILDREN WILL LEARN:
1. That Jesus often used parables (stories) to teach ordinary people biblical
principles.
2. Why we are told to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all
our strength, and all our mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
3. About what mercy is and how were see it in todays bible lesson.
LESSON ACTIVITIES:
1. Ask the children a few questions to see what they already know and what
they need to know more about:
a. What is mercy?
Caring for those in who needs help or cannot take care of themselves.
b. Tell them, today they are going to learn about the Parable of the Good
Samaritan. Ask them if they remember, what a parable is?
A parable is a story about a biblical principle; it helps us to understand
the story better.
c. Do you know what or who a Samaritan is?
Samaritans were a mixed race of people produced when the Jews married
people who were not Jews (other races).
2. Have children take turns reading Luke 10:25-39 (TLB) - memory verse in
their bibles or display The Miracle of Mercy The Good Samaritan, display
PowerPoint (download) on the screen.
THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMANDMENT
25
One day an expert in religious law (lawyer) stood up to test Jesus by asking
him this question: Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?
26
Jesus replied, What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?
27
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.
28
Right! Jesus told him. Do this and you will live!
29
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, And who is my
neighbor?
PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN
30
Jesus replied with a story: A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down
to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes,
GOOD SAMARITAN THE MIRACLE OF MERCY
beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31
By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he
crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by.
32
A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also
passed by on the other side.
33
Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt
compassion for him.
34
Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine
and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to
an inn, where he took care of him.
35
The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, Take
care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, Ill pay you the next time Im
here.
36
Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was
attacked by bandits? Jesus asked.
37
The man replied, The one who showed him
mercy.
Then Jesus said, Yes, now go and do the
same.
Luke 5:1-11 New Living Translation (NLT)
3. Watch the video The Miracle of Mercy The Good Samaritan on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osfQg4yKtq8
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:
After reading, scripture and watching video ask children:
1. What is a mercy? Who showed it in todays story? What did he do?
Caring for those in who need help or cannot take care of themselves.
The Samaritan did by caring for Jew who had been robbed, beaten, and left
on the road to die.
2. What do you think the lawyer asked Jesus, What should I do to inherit
eternal life?
The lawyer was trying to trick Jesus to say something that could be used
against him. He was trying to get Jesus to say that one commandment was
more important than another in the Law of Moses was.
3. Jesus answered his question with a question.
What does Moses law say about it? In other words, he let him answer his
own question. He answered correctly. Jesus said, Right. Do this and you
will live!
GOOD SAMARITAN THE MIRACLE OF MERCY
4. Then the lawyer asked, And who is my neighbor? Jesus answered him by
telling him a story, why do you think Jesus used a Samaritan as the one to
showed mercy?
Jews and Samaritans did not like each other very much. The Jews thought
they were better than the Samaritans, because they believed they were the
pure decedents of Abraham. The Samaritans were a mixed race of people,
half Jewish and half another race. Because of this, the Jews believed they
would be the last ones to act correctly according to the Law of Moses. That
is probably why Jesus used a Samaritan in this parable.
5. What thoughts did we see in the lawyer, thieves, religious men (priest and
temple assistant), innkeeper, Samaritan, and Jesus about the wounded man
in this parable?
The lawyer saw at the wounded man as something to talk about.
The thieves saw the wounded man as someone to mistreat.
The religious men (priest and temple worker) saw the wounded man
as a problem to stay away from.
The innkeeper saw the wounded man as a customer to serve for a fee.
The Samaritan saw the wounded man was a human being worth being
cared for and loved.
Jesus saw that all of them (lawyer, thieves, religious men (priest and
temple assistant), innkeeper, and Samaritan) and all of us were worth
dying for.
6. What three (3) principles about loving our neighbor did we learn from the
parable?
Sometimes we get so involved in religion (establish practices or
rituals) that we forget we have a responsibility to take care of each
other.
The definition of neighbor, our neighbor is anyone of any race, faith, or
social background (upper class, poor, etc.) who is in need or hurting.
Love means acting to meet the need of anyone.
IN CLOSING:
1. Ask if they have ever shown mercy or helped someone in need? Have them
explain.
2. Who deserves mercy?
Everyone
3. Who can give mercy?
Everyone
4. Who should give mercy?
Everyone
5. Close in prayer either you can pray or have one of the children pray.
GOOD SAMARITAN THE MIRACLE OF MERCY
CRAFT: Band-Aid Matchbooks (I found original pattern
here, but modified it slightly so I could place a staple at
bottom to help hold Band-Aids in matchbook similar to a
real matchbook).
Download and print patterns on bright colored cardstock.
Cut out Matchbooks before class and give each child one
(1) matchbook pattern. Have them fold it at the lines,
then staple the bottom, between the last line of the
memory verse and scripture reference. Then give them
each three (3) Band-Aids to place in the matchbook. I
printed the boys Matchbooks on bright green cardstock and
the girls on bright pink cardstock. Then I gave the boys
Teenage Mutant Turtles Band-Aids and the girls Hello Kitty
Band-Aids.
SNACK: Serve Rice Krispy treats with memory verse label
on them and juice I found this idea on Pintrest.
GOOD SAMARITAN THE MIRACLE OF MERCY
