From Jerusalem to Jericho: A Retelling of the Good Samaritan for Battered Women “A woman who was much abused by her wealthy husband left Jerusalem and headed toward Jericho to seek shelter among kinswoman,” Jesus told the crowd. “And as she was going, her wounds caused such pain that she sat down beside the road and wept.
“Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and noting her fine garments, he stopped to ask the cause of her distress. When she told him that her husband had beaten her near to death, the priest drew back and counseled her to return to her husband and be a better wife. Then he crossed the road and continued on his journey.
“So likewise a judge, when he came to the place, stopped to question the woman, and learning the cause of her agony he, too, counseled that her duty was to her husband and that she should return at once to Jerusalem. When she refused, he, too, crossed the road and continued on his journey.
“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where the woman lay beside the road, and when he heard her story, he had compassion, and he bound up her wounds and set her on his own beast and brought her to an inn where he found women to care for her, saying, “There are those who seek her life to destroy it, and no one must know that she is here. When she is well enough to travel, see that she has safe passage to Jericho. And whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.”
“Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the woman?”
And the lawyer said, “Should not the woman have returned to her husband? You preach words of forgiveness. Should she not have forgiven her husband, obeyed the law, and returned home? Weren’t the priest and judge the better neighbors? The Samaritan assisted the woman in her disobedience.”
And Jesus said, “Woe to you who pervert justice and allow injury to the innocent! You fools! Did not God make woman and man both in the Divine image? Is not a woman’s body a temple of God? I say to you, whoever injures anyone, woman, man, or child, injures the Divine image and is held accountable before God.”
And the women in the crowd spoke to one another, “Here is one who understands; truly this must be the Holy One of God.”
-Mrs. Mary Lee Wile
Women’s Uncommon Prayers