Rev elations

‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead’. One of the elements of life that the majority of us who live in England are protected from on a day to day basis is violence; yet Jesus makes it a matter of fact element of this story which he tells. A man is stripped, beaten, robbed and left half dead. It’s the kind of story we are used to reading in our newspapers and seeing on our televisions, stories of violence happening to somebody else. But, Jesus asks the lawyer to consider that violence coming closer to him. What would happen and what would his response be if he found someone left like that half dead on the road? Jesus is fully aware that violence lies just neatly under the surface of civilised communities and nations, a violence that can erupt equally in our homes, on our streets and through war. Jesus will confront that violence in a more profound way on the cross.