s raiment,
and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance
there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he
passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at
the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and
when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and
bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own
beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the
morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the
host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou
spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of
these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among
the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said
Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."--LUKE x. 30-37.

Logically this parable may be conveniently associated with that of the
unmerciful servant. They constitute a pair; that teaches us to forgive
the injurer; and this to help the injured.

On the almost pictured page of the evangelic history you may often
observe two persons, sometimes in presence of a multitude, and sometimes
far apart, engaged in close and earnest conversation. In most cases you
discover, when you approach, that one of them is the Lord Jesus, and the
other one of the lost whom he came to save. At one time it is a rich
Jewish ruler, and at another a poor woman of Samaria; now, it is
Nicodemus in a private house, and then Pilate in the judgment hall; here
the Saviour, suffering, converses with the thief on the cross, and there
the Saviour, reigning, calls to Saul as he is entering Damascus. Many
of the precious words of Jesus which now constitute the heritage of the
Church, were at first spoken in answer to friends or foes, during the
period of his ministry on earth, or after he ascended into heaven.

Thus the Lord's word frequently took its form from the the character and
conduct of those with whom he conversed. On their ignorance, or
simplicity, or malice, his wisdom and goodness were cast for keeping
till the end of time. The temper, and conceptions, and tricks of those
Jews, like sand in a foundry, constituted the mould in which the pure
gold of our Redeemer's instructions was poured; and like the sand, when
they had served tha