The man had been waylaid, stripped of his belongings, beaten, and left to die.
It was not a completely deserted road. We're told that a priest of the temple saw the man and continued on his way. A Levite, one of the highly regarded assistants to the priests, went and looked at the man. But he also turned away and left the victim there.
Then a third man came. He went straight to the injured traveler and bound up his wounds, lifted him up, took him to an inn, and cared for him—even arranging for his future care. The third man was a Samaritan.
