Praise for the Good Samaritan...

An older lady isn't quite fast enough to cross before traffic comes right at her.  Several cars and buses drive around her..until one good Samaritan stops to help her across.  He doesn't stop long enough to get a thank you..   I hope my sons and my daughter would be kind enough to help a stranger.  How wonderful our world would be if the Good Samaritan was common place.  For those of you who don't know the history behind the term "good Samaritan"..it comes form Luke 10.  The Samaritans and the Jewish people didn't like each other..and wouldn't help each other...or even be friendly towards each other.  Yet, a Samaritan found a Jewish man beat up on the side of the road, and he put his differences aside..and compassionately helped the person in need.   (Below you will see a much longer explanation..if you are interested).

Luke 10:25-37

New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,”
 he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
 your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love
 your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”
²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “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. ³¹ A priest happened to be
going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on 
the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw
 him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, 
came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. 
Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and 
took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave
 them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return,
 I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who
 fell into the hands of robbers?”
³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”


Taken from:
http://www.bible-history.com/Samaritans/SAMARITANSBrief_History.htm
It is impossible to write an accurate history of the Samaritans because 
their records are so scarce. The name Samaritans appears only once in the 
Old Testament, in II Kings 17:29 where it is used for those colonist newcomers, planted by the Assyrians, who persisted in their 
pagan ways. However, the majority of the population consisted
 of Israelites who had not been deported and who continued in 
their Israelite faith. The beliefs brought by the newcomers did 
\not survive and, from a Jewish standpoint, no paganism is found 
in later Samaritan theology. 

The mixed population of Samaria was not accepted as Jewish by the 
Jews of the south. When the Jews returned from the Babylonian Exile
 and began to rebuild the Temple, the Samaritans offered to help but 
were rejected, and then they proceeded to prevent or delay the project
 (Ezra 4:1-6). 

When the returned exiles began to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 
the Samaritans protested to the authorities in Persia (Artaxerxes) 
that this constituted an act of rebellion and the work was stopped
 until the arrival of Nehemiah, who King Artaxerxes commissioned 
as governor (Ezra 4:7-24). 

The Samaritans maintained their hostile attitudes and actions which
 were now directed against Nehemiah (Neh 6:1-13). Their opposition
 proved unsuccessful but the division was now complete. Samaritans 
were forbidden to offer sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple or to 
intermarry with Jews, while the Samaritans built their own temple 
on Mount Gerazim, near Shechem. Their Bible consisted of the 
Pentateuch alone; the text featured minor deviations from the 
accepted Hebrew text and also contained an additional verse 
specifically mentioning Mount Gerazim as the site of the temple. 

(also see Samaritan Torah Scroll) 

In the following centuries, the Samaritans suffered when Shechem was destroyed by Alexander the Great, while in 128 B.C. John Hyrcanus 
captured Shechem and destroyed the Samaritan temple. It remained 
in ruins until the 2nd century A.D. when it was rebuilt by the Emperor
 Hadrian as a reward for Samaritan help against the Jews during the
 Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 A.D.). 

The continuing hostility between Jews and Samaritans is clearly seen 
in the New Testament. One of the worst insults that hostile Jews 
could offer to Jesus was to call him a Samaritan (John 8:48). When Jesus 
was refused hospitality by a Samaritan village because he had set 
His face to go to Jerusalem, his disciples were angered, and then 
Jesus rebuked them (Luke 9:51-56). 

(See Map of Samaria in NT Times) 

The story of Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the 
well in John chapter 4 also shows up the division between Jews and Samaritans and the disciples are amazed that Jesus was talking to 
a woman of Samaria (John 4:27). The parable of the good Samaritan 
(Luke 10:33-37) also reveals this division between the Jews and the Samaritans because in their minds it would be impossible for a Samaritan
 to act charitably. 

Overall the New Testament speaks favorably about the Samaritans, they received Jesus’ ministry and were among the first to accept the gospel.