The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) is a parable or ethical story that teaches us that there are two styles of life: "we practice the sin or we live righteously".
At first glance it seems a case of mercy, but if it is so, would not be the Pharisees. The Pharisees are in this parable to show the contrast with the Good Samaritan, in front with the neigbour we have to choose, we pass long or we are collaboratives.
The Pharisees see the neighbor and they ask themselves: Are we going to worry about his life when we have to worry about ours? And pass long. They sin because their lives are guided by the ideas of "find your happiness", "live for you and yours", or to say: you, your family and closest friends. This is what is known as "live according to the flesh."
The Good Samaritan sees the situation and instead cares about the situation, empathizes, gets on the place of his neighbour, and acts according to the golden rule. He acts like that because his logic is to improve himself and improve his surroundings, so he takes off his neighbor of his situation of misery and neglect. This is known as "living according to the spirit". Remember that the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is known as Rectitude.
We carry a life full of sins (we live according to the flesh) or a life of righteousness (we live according to the spirit), the neighbor and the Common Good cares or not. These lifestyles bear fruits. “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit” the Gospel teaches us in Luke 6:44. We fructify and so we are known. A life of righteousness leads us to the fruits of the spirit and a life full of sins brings us to fruition the works of the flesh.
When the neighbor and the justice do not matter, when it comes down to the complaint and is not discuss in depth the problem of justice and the common good, is enough to have a few of ambitious people to start in the society the homicides and crimes.
When the neighbor no matters our relationships with others are “back to back ", each follows its own machinations, deceit and lies become the currency. Falsehood is imposed. Actually this is how we live.
The good (golden rule) and the evil (sin) are basic solutions in humans. They affect all areas of the human being and therefore their relationship with the environment. Good and evil are ways to discern, to choose, we are selfish or not.
We love what we desire, when we are selfish our love is focused in ourselves and in material things. However, when our life is governed by improving ourselves and the world around us, that is when we are free from all selfishness; our love is directed to the sublime and pure ideas like God, the Common Good and the Justice.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is the basis of all ethical and spiritual knowledge, because it explains the real behavior of individuals. The presence or absence of empathy, which is a spiritual faculty, allows us to predict the real behavior of people and his results. Not so the Virtue or the commandments. If people are empathic the fruits of the spirit are manifest: the joy, peace, happiness, concord; and if the people are not empathic will be manifested the works of the flesh and especially the robberies, crimes and homicides.
We have to choose, we are responsible for who we are.