21. At that same time, Jesus felt the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, and he said:My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that is what pleased you.
22. My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who really knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too.
23. Jesus then turned to his disciples and said to them in private, “You are really blessed to see what you see!
24. Many prophets and kings were eager to see what you see and to hear what you hear. But I tell you that they did not see or hear.”
25. An expert in the Law of Moses stood up and asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to have eternal life?”
26. Jesus answered, “What is written in the Scriptures? How do you understand them?”
27. The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbours as much as you love yourself.’ ”
28. Jesus said, “You have given the right answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life.”
29. But the man wanted to show that he knew what he was talking about. So he asked Jesus, “Who are my neighbours?”
30. Jesus replied:As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead.
31. A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side.
32. Later a temple helper came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side.
33. A man from Samaria then came travelling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him
34. and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.
35. The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, “Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.”
36. Then Jesus asked, “Which one of these three people was a real neighbour to the man who was beaten up by robbers?”
37. The teacher answered, “The one who showed pity.”Jesus said, “Go and do the same!”