Jesus Prays to the Father

²¹Then the Holy Spirit* made Jesus feel very happy. Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I praise you because you have hidden these things from the wise and smart people. But you have shown these things to people that are like little children. Yes, Father, you did this because this is what you really wanted to do. ²²"My Father has given me all things. No person knows who the Son is--only the Father knows. And only the Son knows who the Father is. The only people that will know about the Father are those people the Son chooses to tell." ²³Then Jesus turned to his followers. They were there alone with him. Jesus said, "You are blessed to see the things you now see! ²⁴I tell you, many prophets* and kings wanted to see the things that you now see. But they did not see these things. And many prophets and kings wanted to hear the things that you now hear. But they did not hear these things."

Story About the Good Samaritan

²⁵Then a teacher of the law stood up. He was trying to test Jesus. He said, "Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?" ²⁶Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" ²⁷The man answered, "'You must love the Lord your God. You must love him with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.'* Also, 'You must love other people the same as you love yourself.'*" ²⁸Jesus said to him, "Your answer is right. Do this and you will have life forever." ²⁹But the man wanted to show that the way he was living was right. So he said to Jesus, "But who are these other people I must love?" ³⁰To answer this question, Jesus said, "A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Some robbers surrounded him. They tore off his clothes and beat him. Then the robbers left the man lying there on the ground. He was almost dead. ³¹It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When the priest saw the man, he did not stop to help him; he walked away. ³²Next, a Levite* came near. The Levite saw the hurt man, but he went around him. He would not stop to help him either; he just walked away. ³³Then a Samaritan* man traveled down that road. He came to the place where the hurt man was lying. The Samaritan saw the man. He felt very sorry for the hurt man. ³⁴The Samaritan went to him and poured olive oil and wine* on his wounds. Then he covered the man's wounds with cloth. The Samaritan had a donkey. He put the hurt man on his donkey, and he took him to an inn. At the inn, the Samaritan cared for him. ³⁵The next day, the Samaritan brought out two silver coins* and gave them to the man that worked at the inn. The Samaritan said, 'Take care of this hurt man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.'" ³⁶Then Jesus said, "Which one of these three men (the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan) do you think showed love to the man that was hurt by the robbers?" ³⁷The teacher of the law answered, "The one that helped him." Jesus said to him, "Then you go and do the same [for other people]!"

Mary and Martha

³⁸While Jesus and his followers were traveling, Jesus went into a town. A woman named Martha let Jesus stay at her house. ³⁹Martha had a sister named Mary. Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to him teach. But her sister Martha was doing the housework. ⁴⁰Martha became angry because she had so much work to do. Martha went in and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me alone to do all the housework? Tell her to help me!" ⁴¹But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are getting worried and upset about too many things. ⁴²Only one thing is important. Mary has made the right choice; and it will never be taken away from her."

Holy Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. Joined with God and Christ, he does God's work among people in the world. prophets People that spoke for God. 'You must ... mind' Quote from Deut. 6:5. 'You must ... yourself' Quote from Lev. 19:18. Levite Levites were men from the family group of Levi who helped the Jewish priests in the temple. Samaritan From Samaria. Samaritans were part Jewish, but some Jews did not accept them. as pure Jews. olive oil and wine Oil and wine were used like medicine to soften and clean wounds. silver coins One coin, a Roman denarius, was the average pay for one day's work.