Parable

A parable is a story which is intended to make a point. It is intended to make "a", that is a single, point.

In response to the question, "who is my neighbor?" Jesus gave the parable of the "Good Samaritan":


LK 10:30-37 "Jesus answered, `There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead. It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity. He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. "Take care of him," he told the innkeeper, "and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him."' And Jesus concluded, `In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?'"


Comment: An the end of the parable, Jesus simply asks "which of the three was this man's neighbor?" The point is so obvious that an incorrect answer is practically impossible.