My cousin’s death, the violence on council estates, and the tensions between Samaritans and Jews in the first century are all issues with complex, layered narratives that can’t be understood with simplistic summaries or solved with simplistic solutions. They are situations in which we rightly start with lament like the Psalmist, crying “How long O Lord?”
Jesus’ Radical Invitation to a New Homeland
And yet, amid the complexity of his day, Jesus was not afraid to speak with transformative wisdom. His words, if put into practice by even one person, can have ripple effects that impact many.
In one incredible story, Jesus proposes a radical solution to the problem of inordinate loyalty to place. It’s not to forget about where you are from, but to accept his offer of a passport for another place – the kingdom of God. Being a citizen of this kingdom means beginning to see the world more like an Olympic village than one full of opposing camps. It strikes me that it’s worth us keeping this in mind as conversations about national identity come up in everyday conversation today.
Jesus’ wisdom came out of a question he was asked by an expert in the law: “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). The phrase, eternal life is synonymous with the kingdom of God (Mark 10:17,23,26-27). So we could rephrase the question as “what does it look like to become and to be a citizen of the Kingdom?” To illustrate this, Jesus tells the story of a mugged Jewish man, who is ministered to by a Samaritan. He uses the cultural tension about the places they are from to point to how radical and rich kingdom citizenship is.
The Samaritan sees the Jewish man and doesn’t just walk by. He takes pity on him (v33). He stops what he’s doing and makes himself vulnerable to attack as well, taking practical action (v34). He probably used pieces of his own clothing to make bandages, his own wine as a disinfectant and his own oil as a soothing lotion. He pours significant resources into transport and rehab (v34). Then Jesus says to the expert in the law, “go and do likewise” (v37).
The message is that Kingdom citizenship means setting aside external religiosity (v31) or status (v32) as of ultimate importance. Instead looking beyond place to personhood. Seeking to serve the other or even, perhaps surprisingly, to be served by them. For in Jesus’ story, a supposed enemy turns out to be an emissary of the divine.
Living Out Kingdom Citizenship Today
On our estate this has meant trying to model and teach forgiveness in the face of knife crime. In our multi-ethnic congregation this has meant displaying tolerance in the face of political difference. Above all, it means seeking to share Christ with all who cross our path, the greatest act of mercy we can ever show.
It’s not that place doesn’t matter. Jesus deliberately points out where the merciful man was from (v33), unlike the teacher of the law who could not bring himself even to mention it (v37). Knowing the borders of your land helps form identity (Numbers 34:1-12) and establish a place of protection and safety (Nehemiah 1-7). Places matter, but Christ matters more. Around him we unite, celebrating and subordinating our differences for his sake. Until the day when our gates will never have to be shut again (Rev. 21:25).
The approach I'm proposing is a risky one. The mercy Jesus showed led to them making a mockery of him and hanging him in a cross. But the reason that we do it is because we’ve come to realise that we were just like the mugged man. Having disobeyed and dishonoured God, we were weak at the side of the road. Jesus saw us, showed us pity and healed us. Not with wine but blood. Clothing us with his righteousness. And now we wait for him to return to bring in the fulness of the kingdom. Let’s go and do likewise.
