‘Love your neighbor’ more than a slogan, Garland tells Wayland event

PLAINVIEW—In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus gave the perfect example of what it means to love outcasts, recognizing all people as “fellow travelers” on life’s journey, New Testament scholar David Garland told a gathering at Wayland Baptist University.

Garland, dean of Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, offered his insights on the parable from Luke’s Gospel during a banquet to open the annual Willson Lecture Series at Wayland.

“The magic of parables is that they give us a glimpse of the transcendent from the lens of the ordinary,” he said.

While the conversation between Jesus and the expert in Jewish law might have looked like a casual exchange about eternal life and neighborly behavior, Garland said, the parable sheds light on the cultural biases of the day and the question of character.

The legal expert’s question—“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”—was meant to put Jesus to the test, but Jesus turned it around by asking how the law is written. Citing Deuteronomy, the lawyer noted commands to love God and love one’s neighbor as oneself. But wishing to test Jesus more, he asked, “Who is my neighbor?”

He raised the question not out of a desire to serve but out of a desire to build additional boundaries and limits on the law that he must follow, Garland observed. But Jesus expanded the boundaries.

While the priest and the Levite in the parable passed the beaten and robbed man on the other side of the road and refused to help, the Samaritan took pity and helped the injured man, providing resources to ensure the man’s recovery and comfort.

“Samaritans understand themselves to be under the same Mosaic law as the Israelites. He had no way of knowing who the man was or what he was,” Garland said. At the end of the parable, “Jesus requires the answer of ‘Who is my neighbor’ from the perspective of the man in need, which is a twist Jesus often invokes in his parables in Luke.”

The question then becomes whether a Jew in need would allow help from a Samaritan, for whom the Jews had little respect.

Theological conclusions from the parable include the pointlessness of the lawyer’s question to Jesus, since one cannot do anything to receive an inheritance, Garland said. “He is either an heir or he isn’t.”

The lawyer’s questions also reflect a misconception about what eternal life is, seeming to miss the point of the relationship with God that begins in this life, he noted.

Christians must see all humankind as their neighbors, as Jesus often modeled, Garland noted.

“This story really leads people to realize the ‘kin-dom’ of God that includes all fellow travelers on this journey,” he said. “Love your neighbor is not a slogan or a proverb. It is a divine command.”