You've heard the story of the Good Samaritan countless times, but have you ever thought of the story as only half of the conversation? The parable is Jesus's answer to a series of questions posed by an expert in the Jewish law. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" The man didn't know it at the time, but he was asking the wrong questions. Many of us ask the wrong questions in our relationship with God as well. But Jesus, like every good teacher, has an incredible way of leading us from the wrong questions to the right answers.

What follows the lawyer's questions is one of the most powerful, provocative, and transformative stories ever told. It reveals to us that while God does indeed care about what we do, he cares much more about who we are. The parable of the Good Samaritan leads us away from self-justifying legalism, and toward the overflowing compassion and mercy of the Kingdom of God.