Jericho Roads

Jericho Roads By Mark Stucky At the end of the rock-strewn road, fell the walls surrounding Jericho. Spared from destruction, were a harlot’s people, the family of Rahab, Israel’s unlikely ally, and unlikely ancestor of peasants and kings and the King of kings, who came to save us all, when our own walls fall at the ends of our roads. As Jesus walked the road, leaving rebuilt Jericho, a man who was blind begged for mercy and sight. Jesus healed his eyes with love and kindness, transforming a beggar’s begging into following and praising. In a parable Jesus told of a lone sojourner on that dusty road, beaten and robbed, left for dead, but instead, his life was saved, not by religious men coming from Jerusalem, but by a despised Samaritan, who showed mercy and love where others provided none. And for a stranger’s plight he sacrificed to make things right. Unlikely salvation from unlikely sources in unlikely places for unlikely faces may be found on Jericho roads. (First published in Spirit Fire Review, 23 May 2022. For background references to the stories, see Joshua 2-6, Matthew 1:5, and Luke 10:25-37, 18:35-43. See also my poems “Contested Crossroads" and "Life Labyrinths.”) (Image by Valdemaras D. on Unsplash.com.)