The Neighbor on the Road

Five-minute object lesson

Prop: a bandage or a strip of cloth

Hold up a bandage or a strip of cloth. In about five minutes, tell the class this: Jesus tells about a Samaritan who stops to help a wounded man when others pass by. Show the prop and ask, “What does this have to do with The Neighbor on the Road?” Let two children answer. Then read Luke 10:27 together: “He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”” Close by asking one child to say the lesson back in their own words, using the prop.

Story script

A teacher of the law asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus told a story. A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and was attacked by robbers. They left him hurt beside the road.

A priest came along and passed by on the other side. A Levite, another religious person, did the same. Then a Samaritan came. People listening to Jesus did not expect a Samaritan to be the hero. He saw the man, felt compassion, bandaged his wounds, put him on his own donkey, and paid an innkeeper to look after him.

Jesus asked, “Which of these three was a neighbor?” The answer was, “The one who had mercy.” Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” Neighbor is not only the person who looks like you or likes you. Neighbor is the person in front of you who needs mercy.

You may not meet someone on a desert road. You might meet someone dropped from a game, sitting alone, or carrying too much. Mercy crosses the road. Go and do likewise, and get a trusted adult when the need is bigger than a kid can fix.

Open the bedtime version