Pew Sheet, Sunday the 13th of July 2025. Fourth Sunday after Trinity / Proper 10
We are all so familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan that it is possible to hear this passage without realising just how incredibly revolutionary the parable Jesus used in answering his interrogator, a teacher or ‘expert in the law’ (i.e. a Pharisee), actually is. We assume that all the religious people of Jesus’ day believed in a life after death, but this was not universally true. The Pharisees did believe in the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the body, whilst the Sadducees (Levites mainly, and the religious aristocracy of their day, from whom the temple priests were drawn) generally did not.
In asking this rhetorical question of Jesus, the Pharisee is making a political point, and trying perhaps, to score points over any Sadducees in the audience. It seems that at the time of questioning, Jesus still has the grudging respect of at least some of the religious elite, and has not yet reached the point where he has become anathema to them all. If Jesus, the popular itinerant preacher and miracle worker much beloved of the people agrees with him, then he has proven that the Pharisees and not the Sadducees are correct in their belief about the existence of life after death, and he can go on his way contented. His question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” already assumes that he is correct in his assumptions, and that Jesus will definitely agree with him, which he does, but not in the way the Pharisee might have expected.
The Pharisees absolutely hated the Samaritans. Their hatred for them was visceral, and it was deeply entrenched. In telling this parable by way of an answer, and giving the example of the two religious leaders who walked past the man in need of their help and compassion, Jesus highlights the self-interest and lack of compassion in the original question asked of him, for the Pharisee was only interested in his own salvation, and not that of others when saying ‘“what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The word ‘splagchnizomai’ (from which we get the medical term ‘splanchnic’ (meaning of the guts or stomach), which Jesus used when speaking about the compassion of the Samaritan, turns the spotlight on the visceral hatred the Pharisees felt for Samaritans, and gives an example of ‘loving compassion’ the Pharisees evidently lacked. The Samaritan demonstrated loving compassion for the man at the roadside, having been literally moved in his ‘guts’ or in his ‘bowels’ to do the loving thing when other more ‘righteous’ people passed by without intervening. In so doing, the Samaritan mirrored God’s love for all.
The story is a crushing condemnation of the self-interest and lack of compassion of the religious leaders of his day; but equally shows (in the old parlance) that, ‘where sin abounds, grace doth much more abound’ (Romans 5:20). It speaks to the impartial love of God, and shows there is no ‘order of loves’ as St Augustine opined in his ‘amoris ordo’ (much beloved of American Vice-President Vance, though corrected on this by the late Pope Francis). Love for our fellow human beings must be visceral and embedded deeply ‘in our guts’ without showing any partiality, since that is the fruit which God truly expects from each of us.
Collect
Gracious Father, by the obedience of Jesus, you brought salvation to our wayward world. Draw us into harmony with your will, that we may find all things restored in him, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
And the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors when you obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
“Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
Colossians 1:1-14
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father. In our prayers for you we always thank God, theFather of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. For you learned from
Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, so that you may have all endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 10:25-37
An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbour as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour? Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Post Communion Prayer
Eternal God, Comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken, you have fed us at the table of life and hope. Teach us the ways of gentleness and peace, that all the world may acknowledge the kingdom of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
This Week’s Events
Monday (John Keble, Priest, Tractarian, Poet, 1866)
Bell ringing at 7.30pm in St Laurence. Contact Jan on 07835 461361.
Tuesday (St Swithun, Bishop of Winchester, c862)
Zoom Morning Prayer at 9am. Meeting ID: 539 3978774 Password: TuaR0T or contact Sue on [email protected] (The 0 in R0T is a zero not an ‘O’)
Evening Home Groups, contact Jo on 07803 942 687.
Wednesday (Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, 1099)
Morning Coffee from 10.00 am in the St Laurence Rooms/Great Horwood Village Hall followed by Midweek Holy Communion at 12 noon in St Laurence’s.
Thursday
Daytime Home Group, contact Jo on 07803 942 687.
Friday (Elizabeth Ferard, Founder of the Community of St Andrew, 1883)
Junior Choir, 6.30pm in St Laurence, followed by full Choir Practice at 7.30pm.
The Bishop of Buckingham will preside at the deanery confirmation service on Sunday the 16th of November in Waddesdon. If you or any member of your family would like to be confirmed at the service, please do let Steve know, and we will arrange an informal meeting to discuss what confirmation means and why it is so important in our walk of discipleship.
The PCC’s of St Laurence and St James’ have agreed to purchase Bibles for the 56 children leaving Winslow CofE School, and the 14 leaving Great Horwood CofE school this summer. If you would like to contribute to this important part of our mission this year, or in the future, please do speak to a churchwarden.
The Christians Together in Winslow Holiday Club will be in the St Laurence Rooms from 10.00- 14.00 hrs on the following Tuesdays: 29th July, 12th August, 19th August, and 2nd September. For further information contact Jo Anderson on 07803 942 687.
