Be Still And Know

Luke 10:33-34 I love the parable of the Good Samaritan, not least because it would have come as such a complete surprise to Jesus’ hearers. Jesus was being challenged by an expert in the law, who asked for the legal definition of the word ‘neighbour’. He was probably expecting a sophisticated technical response – and instead Jesus told him a story. For any Jew, the parable was deeply shocking. The fact that a man had been ambushed on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho wasn’t surprising. The winding road that connected the two communities made it an ideal place to attack a traveller. But what was shocking was that the priest and Levite did nothing. Of course, they had perfect excuses, since touching a dying man could have made them unclean and therefore unable to perform their duties in the temple. But, even so, anyone with a heart would realise that they should have responded to the helpless man. What is astonishing is that Jesus chose to make the hero of the story a Samaritan, of all peop