The
man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my
neighbor?" 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, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the
road. 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. A
Temple assistant (a Levite) walked over and looked at him lying there,
but he also passed by on the other side. Then a despised Samaritan came
along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 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. The next day he handed the innkeeper two
silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. If his bill runs
higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.' 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."
"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. A Temple assistant (a Levite) walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side."
Leviticus 21:1-3 The LORD said to Moses, "Give the following instructions to the priests, the descendants of Aaron. A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching the dead body of a relative. The only exceptions are his closest relatives--his mother or father, son or daughter, brother, or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband."
Numbers 8:16 "Of all the people of Israel, the Levites are reserved for me. I have claimed them for myself in place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites; I have taken the Levites as their substitutes." (see Numbers 3)
Numbers 8:18-19 "Yes, I have claimed the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons of Israel. And of all the Israelites, I have assigned the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They will serve in the Tabernacle on behalf of the Israelites and make sacrifices to purify the people so no plague will strike them when they approach the sanctuary."
(parentheses are mine)
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