Ascent of Adummim
Clint Archer The Ascent of Adummim is a road that goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Does that route sound familiar? View from the Ascent of Adummim (Good Samaritan) Luke 10:30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” Anyone hearing the parable of the Good Samaritan from the lips of Jesus would be familiar with this infamous route. It included a stretch of desolation in the Judean wilderness known as the Ascent of Adummim. The 15-mile journey, at a steady pace without breaks, would take 7 hours, but likely longer due to the typical blazing temperatures and gruelling elevation gain of 3,400 ft. What made it so treacherous in those days was the innumerable hiding places robbers could lay their ambush. The setting of the story of the Good Samaritan brings a sense of perilous desperation when we hear of a man who “fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and...