The Good Samaritan, by Dan Burr

April 17–23

Matthew 18; Luke 10

“What Shall I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?”

Read Matthew 18 and Luke 10, and record your spiritual impressions. As you receive impressions, you might ask, as Elder Richard G. Scott suggested, “Is there more I should know?” (“To Acquire Spiritual Guidance,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2009, 8).

Invite Sharing

These chapters contain many examples of gospel teachings that are different from what the world teaches us. Perhaps class members could share some examples they found in their reading this week. How does the Lord bless us when we apply His teachings?

Teach the Doctrine

Matthew 18:21–35

We must forgive others if we are to receive forgiveness from the Lord.

• How could you use the parable of the unmerciful servant to inspire class members to be more forgiving? Perhaps you could write questions like the following on the board and invite class members to ponder them as one person retells the parable: Who does the king represent? Who does the unmerciful servant represent? Who does the fellow servant represent? What do the debts represent? Invite class members to share what messages the parable has for them personally. (See also “Additional Resources.”)

• You could invite the class to create an adaptation of the parable of the unmerciful servant that teaches the same lessons about forgiveness using modern situations and details. (Consider having them work on this in groups.) Discuss how the parable answered Peter’s question about how many times he should forgive.

Jesus spoke of money and debt to teach about forgiveness.

Luke 10:25–37

To obtain eternal life, we must love God and our neighbors.

• Here’s an idea that might give class members a fresh view of the parable of the good Samaritan: Invite them to pretend that they are investigating a case of assault and robbery on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. Ask a few class members to come to class prepared to represent the different people in the parable and talk about their involvement in the case. For example, what might be some reasons the priest and Levite didn’t stop to help the injured man? Why did the Samaritan stop? What thoughts could the innkeeper add? How might the injured man have felt about each of the others? Make sure the discussion inspires class members to be like the good Samaritan and the innkeeper and avoid being like the priest and Levite.

• How does the parable of the good Samaritan answer the questions asked of Jesus in Luke 10:25–29? Invite class members to talk about times when they felt like the “certain man” (verse 30) who needed help desperately. How did help come? How can we as ward members work together to help others, like the good Samaritan and the innkeeper did?

Luke 10:38–42

We choose “that good part” by making daily choices that lead to eternal life.

• After reading Luke 10:38–42 as a class, you could ask class members how they might have reacted to the Savior’s counsel if they had been in Martha’s place. How might this experience have affected their future choices? How can we know what things in our own lives deserve more time and attention? Class members could search President Dallin H. Oaks’s message “Good, Better, Best” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 104–8) to find counsel that can help them.

Additional Resources

The debts in the parable of the unmerciful servant.

Commenting on the debts owed in the parable of the unmerciful servant, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:

“There is some difference of opinion among scholars regarding the monetary values mentioned here—and forgive the U.S. monetary reference—but to make the math easy, if the smaller, unforgiven 100-pence debt were, say, $100 in current times, then the 10,000-talent debt so freely forgiven would have approached $1 billion—or more!

“As a personal debt, that is an astronomical number—totally beyond comprehension. (Nobody can shop that much!) Well, for the purposes of this parable, it is supposed to be incomprehensible; it is supposed to be beyond our ability to grasp, to say nothing of beyond our ability to repay. That is because this isn’t a story about two servants arguing in the New Testament. It is a story about us, the fallen human family—mortal debtors, transgressors, and prisoners all. Every one of us is a debtor, and the verdict was imprisonment for every one of us. And there we would all have remained were it not for the grace of a King who sets us free because He loves us and is ‘moved with compassion toward us’ [Doctrine and Covenants 121:4]” (“Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 41).

Improving Our Teaching

Follow the Savior’s example. As you read accounts of the Savior teaching in the New Testament, look for lessons in His example that can help you become a better teacher. For instance, in Luke 10:25–37, what did Jesus do to teach the lawyer about how to obtain eternal life?