An expert in the Law stood up to test Jesus and asked him what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus asked him him what the Law says, the man replied: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
(Deu (5 Mos) 6:5, Lev (3 Mos) 19:18). Jesus answered: "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." (Luk 10:25–28).
Jesus answered his question about what he must do to inherit eternal life.
However, there is no possible way with our human efforts to keep the Mosaic Laws perfectly, see for example Jesus and the Young Rich Man. See also
The Golden Rule in The Sermon on the Mount.
The man wanted to justify himself and therefore asked Jesus who his neighbor is.
Jesus answered him by telling this parable: A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be walking the same road, and when he saw the man he passed on the other side. So also a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled came to where the man was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. He went to him and bound up his wounds and poured oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii which he gave to the innkeeper and asked him to take care of him. When he he came back he would reimburse him for any extra expenses he might have. Jesus then asked which of these three was the neighbor of the man who fell into the hands of robbers. The Law expert replied that it was he who took care of him. Jesus then told him to go and do likewise.
(Luk 10:29–37).
This parable shows what God means when he said: love God, love your neighbor. God looks at our heart of compassion. When God says neighbor, he means anyone (not just other Jews but also Samaritans and Gentiles (Luk 10:36–37)). That the priest and the Levite in the parable couldn't do the right thing shows that the Law can't change the human heart. The good Samaritan is a picture on Jesus.
The Jews at that time believed that they could be saved by keeping the Mosaic Laws
and that they could do that, which isn't possible to do perfectly because of our sinful nature. They tried to find loopholes to keep the Law. The Law can't save us, only Jesus can save us (Rom 3:20–24), see Salvation.
For information on other parables, see Jesus' Parables.
