Chapter 42
Good Monday Morning to the week 42 of 2023
I felt a sense of relief as we boarded our flight out of Jordan, heading back home after an extended journey through Israel to Jordan. As I perused the inflight entertainment offerings from Turkish Airlines, I couldn’t help but reflect on my recent visit to the very spot in Israel where the story of the Good Samaritan unfolded. To my surprise, I came across the film ‘Bad Samaritan’ in the list of available movies. Although I didn’t end up watching it, the very concept intrigued me.
The “Bad Samaritan” is an inversion of the traditional notion of a “Good Samaritan”, highlighting the moral conflict and transformation that the protagonist undergoes throughout the course of the film. Instead of a person helping someone in need, the protagonist takes advantage of his job as a valet to rob houses, displaying selfish and immoral behaviour. However, his encounter with the wicked antagonist, brings him into a situation where he must confront his own actions and ultimately take on the role of a reluctant “Good Samaritan” in order to save a woman imprisoned.
Over the past week, we have been confronted with images depicting the utmost embodiment of evil, displayed in its most grotesque form imaginable. I’ve delved extensively into reports, interviews, and accounts, absorbing a great deal of information. We bore witness to the evacuation of numerous Jewish individuals from a Kibbutz along the southern border of Israel, adjacent to Gaza. Periodically, the heart-wrenching cries of mothers and fathers pierced the air of the hotel to shelter them as they received devastating news, slowly uncovering the grim details of the heinous massacre that unfolded within their homes, involving their families and children.
We bore witness to moments reminiscent of Jeremiah, where Rachel wept for her children. Then, we found solace in the verses from Isaiah 49:14-18:
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me. Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget,
I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me. Your children hasten back,
and those who laid you waste depart from you. Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the Lord,
you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.
These verses resonate with the profound reassurance of God’s unwavering love and remembrance, even in times of great distress.
I embarked on a journey to Israel, often sharing with our group my hope to find Jesus in Israel. As I glimpsed the land and later prepared to depart, a growing certainty settled within me – the Jesus I sought wasn’t to be found, bound to the physical terrain. We encountered vast stretches of desert, arid and devoid of life, and caught wind of the whispers of war. Soon, the echoes of rockets surrounded us, thrusting us into the heart of conflict. In the midst of chaos, my conviction deepened – Jesus wasn’t confined to this landscape. Ultimately, we navigated our way to safety, only to witness our haven, the hotel, transform into a refuge for countless people. It was in this refuge that the first stirrings of Jesus’ presence touched me. He didn’t manifest in a tangible, territorial form, but rather, in the collective comfort and embrace and solace shared among the members of the Kibbutz as they navigated their grief. There, amidst that community, I started to find Jesus in Israel.
The Jesus we follow, the one we’ve come to know through Sunday school, through the timeless stories of the Bible, through spiritual encounter, including the frequently cited parable of the Good Samaritan, has always been a beacon of compassion and kindness. But what if there’s another facet to this narrative? What if it’s not just the Good Samaritan that leads us to Jesus, but also the Bad Samaritan? Is it possible that even in the actions, seasons, times of those and that that we perceive as the “Bad Samaritan” there’s a potential pathway to Him? Could it be that in our current times, we’re witnessing this inversion of the story. These questions challenge me to reconsider my perspectives and perhaps discover Jesus in unexpected times and places.
Has Zion forsaken its people? Has He slumbered, or turned His face away? Or, perhaps, the contrary is true—now, He has turned His face again, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the forgotten and the despised. Is this the moment spoken of in Isaiah, where many will encounter Him as written, ‘I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me’.?
Wishing you an inspired start to this week as you wrestle with these tensions in your personal setting, life, church and country.
Philemon