From the Bishop
Dear friends,
As we move into Synod, we have the opportunity to reflect on one of the most influential passages of scripture. The parable of the Good Samaritan.
Jesus helps us understand that the legal and religious authorities of the day were missing the mark in terms of offering dignity and care to a wounded person. It was someone who would be seen as unacceptable who provided enduring support, until the person was well enough again.
Jesus told his disciples, and Luke records the story for posterity, the requirement that those bearing the image of God will, “Go and do likewise!”.
Organised religious groups, along with a number of other community groups, are moving to the margins of society. Perhaps this makes us a little more like the Samaritan moving forward. From the edge, can we make a difference for others and change how we structure society and the response to the most vulnerable?
One of the responses to the changes in society is described as Christian nationalism. This involves strategies to try and retain the influence that the Christian Church has had in the Western world for nearly 1700 years.
There are some aspects of that approach which others worry echo the behaviours of the priest and lawyer in the parable. This invites us to consider what we advocate for in the political sphere, and how we advocate for it. Our vocation is to keep acting in the same manner as Jesus.
So, I commend the parable and the prayer points for your consideration.
As I do so, I encourage your prayers for our welfare organisation that carries this story in its name – Samaritans. We come alongside some of the most vulnerable in the community through this work. I encourage you to pray for the people and their needs as well as our workers.
Please pray about and consider giving to Samaritans Green Light Appeal.
This supports young people moving out of homelessness into education or work. I am often moved by the life changing stories of those who have been supported by that service.
Every blessing,
Bishop Peter Stuart
Anglican Bishop of Newcastle
Bible reflection: The Good Samaritan
By Father Rod
The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) is so well known that I hardly need to take up space here repeating or paraphrasing it. The legacy of this story is that a Samaritan is universally understood as a good person who helps others, a good neighbour. Newcastle Anglican’s own welfare agency scarcely needs a mission statement; the name says it all.
Perhaps less explored is the context of theological tensions in which the parable is told and the new ground it forges in that context.
In the first Century CE Jewish thought was substantially formed by two distinct schools: the House of Hillel (Bet Hillel) and the House of Shammai (Bet Shammai). Hillel and Shammai we sages (of the late 1st century BCE and the early 1st century CE) who debated each other on aspects of Jewish life and law. Broadly Shammai is the more conservative and Hillel the more progressive so far as those distinctions can be helpful. Their debates frame the context of many questions posed to Jesus in the gospels.
For example, the 1st-century theological debate on divorce between Hillel (who took a more lenient approach) and Shammai (who was stricter) forms the backdrop of the debate in Matthew 19:3-9, where religious leaders test Jesus on the grounds for divorce. In this case Jesus seems to lean toward the teaching of Shammai.
Hillel’s famous summary of the Torah (“What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the whole Torah…”) closely parallels Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:12: “In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you.”
While neither sage is named in the New Testament, Hillel’s grandson, Gamaliel, is mentioned in the Book of Acts. He was a highly respected Pharisee who counselled the Sanhedrin to exercise caution with the early apostles in Acts 5:34-39, here Gamaliel is clearly following in his grandfather’s footsteps. He is cited by Paul as his former teacher in Acts 22:3. Sadly, this influence on Paul is often overlooked when interpreting his writings.
The parable begins with an expert in the law asking Jesus how to inherit eternal life. When Jesus asks how he reads the law, the lawyer fuses parts of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18: “to love God” and to “love your neighbour as yourself”. This is also a clever synthesis of Hillel and Shammai. Seeking to “justify himself,” the lawyer asks a follow-up question that was a point of tension in first-century rabbinic debate: “And who is my neighbour?”
The House of Shammai and the House of Hillel answered this question differently. Shammai applied strict purity codes to define the boundaries as to who was and who was not a neighbour. In contrast Hillel took more inclusive, empathetic approach. In this contested space the operational framework of rabbinic law still struggled to define where functional, legal obligation began and ended. By forcing the lawyer to define “neighbour,” Jesus directly entered the space between Shammai’s purity-based restriction and Hillel’s expansive inclusiveness.
In the parable Jesus does as most rabbis do, he responds to a question with a story, and the story reframes the question. The question posed by the lawyer is “Who is my neighbour?”. Following the story the question becomes, “What kind of a neighbour am I?”. This moved the debate away from the various interpretations of the Sages to an ethical and moral question that needs to be struggled with deeply within the self.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan cannot be fully appreciated outside the shadow of Hillel and Shammai. Jesus used the tension between Shammai’s protective legalism and Hillel’s humanitarian leniency to challenge his listeners. Instead of answering “who qualifies as my neighbour,” Jesus flipped the question entirely, demonstrating that neighbourhood is not a status to be analysed, but an active commandment to be lived.
The dynamic and essence of this debate remains active within the contested spaces of our church and our world today. It is in the essence of the debate around immigration in our current political environment. Although we may use different words this debate is framed around questions of “purity” and “identity”. Within our church the same could be said of the contested space of human sexuality. Most of us will either lean towards a Shammai or a Hillel position.
Jesus points us towards a third way. In this way the question becomes not “Who is my neighbour?’, but “What kind of neighbour am I?”. this has been true for you also.
Points for Prayer
By Rev’d Canon Dr Christy Capper
Eternal God, you teach us to love and serve our neighbours as you love and serve us. Fill us with your love, that we might be good neighbours to those around us and show the world your love and compassion, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
As we continue in the season of Pentecost we pray for:
- Wisdom and compassion as we continue in our walk as disciples of Christ
- Those who are spiritually seeking, that they may encounter Christ
- Our parishes as we continue in faithful loving service, that we may be good neighbours to our communities.
As we approach Synod we pray for:
- Wise and courageous decision making
- Love, understanding and unity in Christ
- Those who enable Synod to run smoothly
- Those who will be elected to leadership roles within the diocese
As we consider being a good neighbour we pray for:
- Those that we disagree with
- Those that we find it difficult to love
- Those who are different to us
Teaching on Prayer
A number of times in the Gospels the disciples seem to lose Jesus. He seemed to have a habit of going off by himself, often to a mountain, to pray. Mountains are often places in the Scriptures where people go to meet God. Places that are isolated, quieter, and perhaps seemed to be reaching towards the Heavens.
Sometimes as we pray it can be helpful to find an environment that helps us to pray. For some it will be a mountain or a hill, for others it might be the bush or the beach, for others perhaps a church, for yet others it might be a busy place where we can pray for people as we see them going about their day.
We don’t need to go somewhere special to pray, God hears our prayers no matter where they are prayed. But sometimes, the intention of going somewhere different for the purpose of prayer can be helpful. It can also be a useful exercise to think about the places where we most notice or engage with the presence of God. Then, on those days where we may be struggling to pray, or where we have serious concerns to be prayed about, we already know of something that will help us to pray.
Where is it that you best connect with God?
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