S1: It's Thanksgiving weekend and we're still celebrating. Why not keep
S1: thanking God? But did you ever wonder why some people
S1: feel more thankful than others? Stay with us. We're going
S1: to have a great Bible study to talk about that.
S1: Welcome to the Radio Kitchen table. It's our Bible study
S1: across America. This is open line with Doctor Michael Radonich.
S1: I'm Michael Radonich, professor of Jewish studies and Bible here
S1: at Moody Bible Institute. This is a special pre-recorded one
S1: hour edition of Open Line. We're going to have a
S1: special Bible study. I have some people here who are
S1: going to study the scriptures with me. Joining me today
S1: will be, as always, Tricia McMillan, who is our producer.
S1: And she's going to be not just behind the mic,
S1: behind the glass. She's going to be right in here. Welcome, Tricia.
S1: Thank you. I'm so glad that Trish is here, because
S1: she is someone that I know every time I say, oh,
S1: can we do this and this? Or can we meet
S1: for for a pre-record or something like that? She says, well,
S1: I have to work it around my Bible study. So, Tricia,
S1: one of the things I like about you is that
S1: you're someone that's not only studying the Bible on your own,
S1: but studying it in groups. And that's what we're going
S1: to do now. And right now. Also joining me is
S1: my favorite Bible teacher, the person I study with virtually
S1: every day. It's Eva, right? Unlike my colleague here at
S1: Moody Bible Institute and a contributor to the Moody Handbook
S1: of Messianic Prophecy, and also my wife.
S2: Hey, great to be here with you guys today. Such
S2: a great day to be looking at the word together.
S1: Yep. And so it's a special pre-recorded edition. Don't call
S1: in today. And the reason is that no one will
S1: pick up. But you can go to Openline radio.org. That's
S1: our website. And there's a place there that says Ask
S1: Michael a question. So click on that and you can
S1: send a question in for the mailbag, and we'll be
S1: sure to get to that in upcoming weeks. But and
S1: by the way, while you're there, you can check out
S1: everything else that's at the web page. I'm sure you'll
S1: find lots of interesting things, past programs. And you can
S1: find also links to to other important aspects of Open Line, uh,
S1: even a link to my personal web page if you're
S1: ever interested in that. You can see where I'm speaking
S1: and what I'm up to. So anyway, that's that's what
S1: you can do. But what we really want to do
S1: today is have a Bible study about Thanksgiving. And I've
S1: been thinking about, uh, Thanksgiving. This I like celebrating the
S1: whole week. Not just the day, not just the weekend,
S1: but celebrating the whole week. And it's because it's a
S1: great reminder that we should celebrate Thanksgiving every day. That
S1: should be our attitude. And so that's what we're going
S1: to be studying. Uh, Thanksgiving and we're all going to
S1: bring we're all going to bring it. We're all going
S1: to study the scriptures, and we're going to share what
S1: it is that that is most meaningful to us. And
S1: I wanted to start just by reminding us of a
S1: story I once heard about a little girl who gave
S1: whose mom gave her an orange. When the girl said nothing,
S1: her mom reminded her, as moms are wont to do,
S1: she said, what do you say? The girl thought for
S1: a moment and said, peel it. And I thought, how
S1: often are we like that? That we just instead of
S1: being grateful for what we've been given, we just want
S1: more and more and we don't have an expectation. We
S1: we have an expectation of more instead of an attitude
S1: of gratitude. And that's what I really want to talk about.
S1: And so what we're going to do to start with
S1: is to study the story in Luke 17, verses 11
S1: through 19. And what we're going to do is just
S1: take a look at that passage about the ten lepers
S1: that Jesus healed. Okay. Okay. So let's let's get our
S1: Bibles out. Let's get, uh, turn to Luke 17, verses
S1: 11 through 19. Uh, I don't believe that this is
S1: necessarily anything. It's it's some, I guess I would say
S1: are some incidents from the teaching and experiences of Jesus
S1: in this little section of Luke and his earthly ministry.
S1: And so I'm just going to read the passage to
S1: start with, and then we're going to work on some observations. Okay. Okay.
S1: While traveling to Jerusalem, he passed between Samaria and Galilee.
S1: As he entered the village, ten men with serious skin
S1: diseases met him. They stood at a distance and raised
S1: their voices, saying, Jesus, master, have mercy on us. When
S1: he saw them, he told them, go and show yourselves
S1: to the priests. And while they were going, they were healed.
S1: But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned,
S1: and with a loud voice gave glory to God. He
S1: fell face down at his feet, thanking him. And he
S1: was a Samaritan. Then Jesus said, were not ten cleansed?
S1: Where are the nine? Didn't any return to give glory
S1: to God except this foreigner? And he told him, get
S1: up and go on your way. Your faith has made
S1: you well. So that's the the story that's laid out.
S1: The story of the ten lepers. And I thought, we're
S1: going to start with some questions. And whenever we start
S1: with Bible study, I think the best thing to do
S1: is to make observations, to take a look at the
S1: text and just observe what's there. And so the very
S1: first question that we need to observe is what is leprosy?
S1: I think that people sometimes misunderstand it. Anyone? Uh.
S2: I think if you ask people what's the most common
S2: disease talked about in the Bible, they would say leprosy,
S2: even though they may not know what leprosy is. Yeah.
S1: I think it's interesting because my version here, it says
S1: that they stood they had serious skin diseases, not leprosy.
S1: What does Iva's got? The new American standard, uh, in
S1: Luke 17.
S2: Right?
S1: It it uses the word leprosy, I do believe.
S2: Yeah.
S1: And what version are you looking at, Trish?
S3: Uh, I have the CSB and I have the ESV, and.
S1: The ESV says.
S3: Uh, he was met by ten lepers.
S1: Lepers? See, here's one of the things is that there's
S1: a modern skin disease called leprosy that, uh, that has
S1: a distinct, Distinctive characteristics. And yet I don't believe that
S1: that's what is in the text of the Bible. And
S1: so often when people read this story, they think of
S1: the modern skin disease of leprosy that's degenerative, and it
S1: takes away the flesh and it eats it away completely.
S1: And they think that that's what they have. It's not
S1: what they have. They they had some sort of skin disease.
S2: It was kind of a it seems like it's sort
S2: of a general term for skin disease. Yes. Yes. Like
S2: today you might say, well, they have acne, but there's
S2: different kinds of acne or they have dermatitis. There's different
S2: kinds of.
S1: There's all kinds of dermatitis. Exactly. And so it's a
S1: skin disease of some sort. Not necessarily leprosy.
S2: But they were apparently having to live apart or something.
S2: They were kind of together.
S1: Yeah. Why are they standing at a distance? Anyone know.
S3: So it may be infectious. Okay. A possibility. Yeah.
S1: I think, uh, part of the requirements of any kind
S1: of skin disease in the Torah. Leviticus 13. It says,
S1: by the way, in Leviticus 13 has my life verse
S1: in it. Yes. It's if a man this is verse 40,
S1: if a man loses the hair of his head, he
S1: is bald, but he is clean. That's my life verse.
S3: There we go. Because you are. No, you have lost
S3: a few hairs.
S1: On your head. I'm follicly.
S2: Challenged. It might be the future.
S1: No, I'm follicly challenged. That's what I am. But anyway, uh,
S1: the the verse that I'm thinking of is verses 45
S1: and 46. This whole chapter, uh, in fact, Leviticus 13
S1: and 14 has to do with skin diseases. And it
S1: says the person afflicted with an infectious skin disease is
S1: to have his clothes torn and his hair hanging loose,
S1: and he must cover his mouth and cry out, unclean, unclean!
S1: He'll remain unclean as long as he has the infection.
S1: He is unclean. He must live alone in a place
S1: outside the camp.
S2: Right. And what verse is that in Leviticus 13?
S1: Verses 45 and 46. So skin diseases were required for
S1: people to live apart. They they couldn't they could be
S1: with each other, but they could not be with people
S1: in the camp or in the city. And the reason
S1: was it was likely infectious.
S2: It's like what we would think of today as being quarantined.
S2: You'd quarantine people that have it? Yeah.
S1: And to warn people to prevent them from catching this, uh,
S1: infectious disease. And I think that that's that's, uh, it's
S1: pretty serious and pretty lonely, don't you think?
S3: Mhm. Well, and if there were ten of them, I
S3: guess the idea I would get is are they living together. Yeah.
S3: You know as a group. Is there like a small
S3: group that the people who have leprosy, who have skin diseases.
S3: Go to this certain area and live together. They have
S3: like this as a camp.
S1: Outside the outside the community. Yeah.
S2: What we would think of as a leper colony. Yeah. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. That's. That's the same idea that that they would
S1: live together because they didn't have fear of making each
S1: other a infected and be this kind of. It's usually
S1: these diseases that have open wounds that were, were open
S1: and seeping. Uh, that.
S2: That it won't infect anyone else. Yeah.
S1: But also it made them ritually unclean.
S2: Right.
S1: So they couldn't enter into worship? Of course. Uh, I
S1: think that you don't want to get anyone else unclean,
S1: but also you don't want to keep people from worship
S1: and so that they had to stay separate. It didn't
S1: mean that they were morally unclean. It meant that they
S1: were ritually unclean. They couldn't enter into worship with the
S1: community of Israel. And so you have this group of
S1: people and, you know, they have some special request of Jesus.
S1: And we're going to talk about that in just a minute.
S1: But we're going to take a break here. You're listening
S1: to Open Line. It's a special Bible study. Today. We're
S1: starting with Luke 17 verses 11 through 19. Joining me,
S1: Eva Radonic and Tricia McMillan. And we're working our way
S1: through this text and we're going to learn. It's so
S1: great to learn how we can be more thankful every day.
S1: Stay with me. This is Michael Ray Dolnick on Open Line.
S1: Are you looking to deepen your grasp of Paul's powerful epistles,
S1: the Moody Bible commentary on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians
S1: is your key to unlocking these treasured books with clear
S1: explanations and practical insights. This resource illuminates Paul's teachings on grace, unity, joy,
S1: and the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. Request your copy
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S1: claim Paul is the key person who took the message
S1: of the Jewish Messiah. Jesus made it into something Gentile.
S1: But Paul is also the one who wrote, brethren, my
S1: heart's desire for Israel is for their salvation. Romans ten one.
S1: Chosen people ministries. One of our underwriters wants us all
S1: to learn what drove Paul's passion for his own people.
S1: They're offering the book The Heart of the Apostle by
S1: Rich Freeman, free to all open line listeners. To get
S1: this exposition of Romans nine through 11, just go to
S1: our website, openline radio.org. Scroll down to the link that
S1: says A free gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on
S1: that and you'll be taken to a page where you
S1: can sign up for your very own free copy of
S1: The Heart of the Apostle. Welcome back to this special
S1: Thanksgiving weekend edition of Open Line with me, Mike Radonich,
S1: and joining me today, Tricia McMillan, producer of Open Line.
S1: And Eva Radonich, my colleague at Moody and the person
S1: who teaches me the Bible all week long. And we're
S1: going to be continuing our study in Luke 17. It's pre-recorded.
S1: You can't call in, but you can join us, get
S1: your Bible out to Luke 17, and we're going to
S1: look from verse 11 onward, we're studying the passage about
S1: Jesus healing of the ten men with skin diseases. These
S1: men are standing at a distance from Jesus because they
S1: have skin diseases. They are unclean both. And they may
S1: be contagious, but also they're ritually unclean. They don't want
S1: to get everyone else unclean because of Leviticus 13. They
S1: are standing at a distance, but now they see Jesus?
S1: And what specifically do they ask of Jesus? When you
S1: look at the text? It says in verse 13 what
S1: what their request is.
S3: They want mercy.
S1: Yeah. Don't you think that's interesting? Would you have asked
S1: that question? I would have.
S3: Asked. Heal me, heal me.
S2: Make me well. Yeah. Yeah.
S1: I think it's because they were so despised because of
S1: this skin disease that they were just crying out for mercy.
S1: And in essence, that becomes a substitute for being healed.
S1: They they did. They were asking for healing, but it
S1: was an act of mercy.
S2: They the healing would come out of his act of mercy. Exactly.
S1: That's what they were asking. I think that's kind of interesting.
S1: So that that's a great reminder for everything that we
S1: get from God.
S2: Mhm.
S1: That it's it's not it's not something we can demand.
S1: We can't demand anything of God but we get a
S1: gift of mercy constantly from him, and that's what they did.
S3: But can you define mercy? Mercy.
S1: Mercy. You know, grace is a gift that God gives us.
S1: He shows us kindness. It's a positive act. It's giving
S1: us something we don't deserve. Mercy is God not giving
S1: us what we do deserve. That's what mercy is.
S3: That would be isolation and being set outside the camp
S3: or outside the city, and not being able to worship
S3: is what they do deserve. Yeah. Okay.
S1: And and they do deserve even bad things. You know,
S1: when we think about it, we all sin. So what
S1: do we deserve? We all deserve bad things to happen
S1: to us. And God doesn't allow bad things to happen
S1: to us all the time. That's his mercy. He's not
S1: giving us what we deserve when we're forgiven. Forgiveness, by
S1: the way, is a free gift. It's by grace through faith.
S1: The Bible says we are saved by grace through faith.
S1: That means it is a gift of God. It is.
S1: We are being given something we don't deserve, but also
S1: we have been saved by his mercy. We do deserve judgment,
S1: but he doesn't give it to us because he took
S1: it on himself. And so it's not getting what we
S1: do deserve. That's what mercy is. Grace is being receiving
S1: something that we don't deserve.
S2: So, okay, can we come back sometime and do a
S2: whole Bible study hour just on the mercy of God?
S3: That would be great.
S2: So good.
S1: It is amazing when you think about it, how merciful
S1: and gracious he is. Okay, so I'm looking at this
S1: text and what's Jesus response to them? He says, go
S1: and show yourselves to the priests. What's the point of
S1: Jesus telling them to show themselves to the priests.
S2: Mm. I think they realized they were they were being
S2: obedient to the mosaic covenant, to the Priestly Code by
S2: not by keeping themselves apart. They were they were obeying that.
S2: That's why they were living separately. And all this. So
S2: he says, okay, the next step then is to go
S2: and show yourself. But but where does the healing happen? Yeah.
S1: Well, I don't think it happens till afterwards, but here's
S1: the interesting. Go and show yourselves to the priests. The
S1: priests kind of functioned as health inspectors. If a person
S1: remember the skin disease made them ritually unclean. If they
S1: were to enter back into fellowship, they had to go
S1: to a priest and show that they were now clean.
S1: That's what was required in the Law of Moses. In fact,
S1: if you most, most Bibles that have cross-references would point
S1: you to the verse about where they're supposed to go
S1: to the priest, and that's in Leviticus 13 is is
S1: what what the requirements are. Leviticus 13 and 14 have
S1: all the judges, all the the requirements for skin diseases
S1: and staying off at a distance. And then it talks
S1: about when someone is is cleansed that they have to
S1: go and show themselves to the priest. And, and then
S1: the priest will affirm that they can enter again into worship. Uh,
S1: it says in Leviticus uh 1314, uh, he says, for example, uh,
S1: in verse 43, if the contamination reappears in the house,
S1: I'm sorry. When the priest comes and examines, it has
S1: all these issues of, uh, the priest, uh, taking care
S1: of it. I'm trying to find the exact verse. Uh,
S1: it says, uh, here we go. If the skin disease
S1: has disappeared. This is verse three. Uh, if the skin
S1: disease has disappeared from the afflicted person, the priest will
S1: order that two live clean birds cedarwood, scarlet yarn, and
S1: hyssop be brought for the one who is to be cleansed.
S1: And the priest will order that one of the birds
S1: to be slaughtered over fresh water. And so it also
S1: says in 1353. It it talks about all the ways
S1: that the priest will examine everything and to show that
S1: it has been cleansed, and therefore they can restore, be
S1: restored to fellowship. So that's what it's talking about. Uh,
S1: that they have to go show themselves to the priests,
S1: I would think I would say, well, why would I
S1: show myself to the priest? What do you think they
S1: thought when Jesus said, go show yourself to the priest.
S2: I think they might have been hopeful or. Yeah, yeah.
S3: Like, is something gonna happen? And maybe they had heard. Okay,
S3: so apparently they have heard about who Jesus is enough
S3: to see him as he's walking past their town to
S3: call to him so they know who he is. So
S3: even though they're on the outskirts, there's some sort of
S3: gossip train working that that they know who he is.
S3: And earlier in Luke, in Luke five, he's healed the
S3: lame man. Um, he's healed someone else. Who? He also tells.
S3: Go to the priest and show him that you're cleansed. Um.
S1: Another another person with.
S3: Another disease who had who had skin disease. Yeah. Um,
S3: that that he has healed him of that. And there's
S3: a chance they had heard about that. That. Well, maybe
S3: maybe he'll heal us, too. Okay, well, and you just
S3: turn and go in faith and and a lot of
S3: these people that Jesus healed, he says, go do this.
S3: And they're like, okay. I'm like, whether they they think
S3: he's crazy or not, they still do it. They obey,
S3: and then something happens to them. You know, often they're healed.
S3: And so if they've heard that story, maybe they thought, well,
S3: maybe something will happen on the way, I don't know.
S1: I think it's so interesting in Luke five, as you
S1: mentioned there, you know how unclean they are. But he says, Lord,
S1: if you're willing, you can make me clean. Reaching out
S1: his hand, he touched him, saying, I am willing. Be
S1: made clean. And so Jesus cleanses him. In Luke five,
S1: this man with a serious skin disease, and he's not
S1: afraid of the contagion. He is. Yeah. He just touches him. Yeah.
S1: And so now they call out and he says, go walk.
S1: And you caught it there. Tricia. You said they just
S1: they did it in faith. They just did what he said.
S1: It's that a lot of people really trash all ten
S1: of the men with serious skin diseases, because only one
S1: came back. So the other nine are all better, but
S1: I do I do want to say, look at that.
S1: One of them came back, but all of them expressed
S1: faith because they would not. It says in the text
S1: right there. Uh, he told them, go show yourselves to
S1: the priests. And while they were going.
S2: They were cleansed.
S1: They were healed. Yeah. And so that means that they
S1: stepped out in faith. They had to actually believe that
S1: Jesus would heal them or or they would not have
S1: been healed. And they step out and they go to
S1: the priest and as they start going, they're like, and
S1: it doesn't say how far they went, but it must
S1: have been some distance. And they're like, wait a minute,
S1: you can just see it. They start looking at their arms.
S2: Looking at one another's faces maybe.
S1: Yeah. And saying, look at us. We're healed. They believed
S1: what Jesus said. Uh, and he heals them. Not by
S1: touching them here. He heals them with a word. He
S1: just sends them off and he heals them from from
S1: a distance. Mhm.
S3: Would the priest who is the one who declares them clean,
S3: have only been one priest who is in Jerusalem?
S1: Well, there may have been many priests who functioned that way,
S1: but they would have been in Jerusalem.
S3: They would have been in Jerusalem.
S1: At the temple. And so they're going a distance.
S3: Yeah. Because if they're in between Samaria and Galilee, they're
S3: up further north. Yeah. And on their way to Jerusalem.
S3: But that's I don't know how many miles or kilometers
S3: that would be, but it's a little significant on the
S3: map if you look at the map.
S1: I know when I read this story, and I think
S1: most people, when they imagine it, they think the people
S1: stepped out and they started walking to Jerusalem and they
S1: went about ten yards. And then they looked down and
S1: they saw that their skin disease was better. And, and
S1: and then one of them rushes back. The others just
S1: could care less about what Jesus had to say and
S1: or do, and only one came back. But I think
S1: they were going a distance. It's while they're on their
S1: way to Jerusalem, as you say, it's quite a distance.
S1: That's when they're healed. So they could.
S3: Have gone 20 miles before they were healed. Yes. Because
S3: it looks like it's like 50 or more miles.
S2: I think it had been even more because it says
S2: they were between Samaria and Galilee. So if you if
S2: you think of it, the the layout of the land,
S2: you've got Galilee, Samaria, and then Jerusalem. So they were
S2: pretty far north of Jerusalem if they were between Samaria
S2: and Galilee when this.
S3: Happened, even more of a sacrifice than if he. I mean,
S3: I know how tiring it is, just if you're in
S3: your house or you're at your job and you're like, oh,
S3: I left that at my desk, I have to turn
S3: around and go get it and go up a flight
S3: of stairs or you know, where it's not very long. Oh,
S3: I left that in my bedroom. And it it's I'm
S3: now on the other side of the house, which may
S3: just be three rooms away, but you're tired. You don't
S3: want to do that. And, and if this is, you know,
S3: 20 or 30 miles before they're healed and the man
S3: turned around and went back, that's an even bigger sacrifice
S3: than I. Than I'm imagining it was so.
S1: So the Lord Jesus heals them with His Word. He
S1: sends them off and they go, and they're making a trip.
S1: And I agree with you totally. I was leaving the
S1: house today to come here, and I realized I left
S1: my phone upstairs in the bedroom charging, and we were
S1: out by the back door ready to go out. And
S1: I said, I got to get my phone turned around
S1: and it was like, it's annoying. The worst thing is
S1: when you're in the car and pulling out and I'm
S1: so I'm glad I remembered that. But they were on
S1: their way. They're going off a distance. It may have
S1: been a mile, may have been two miles. Who knows
S1: how far it was that they had gone when they
S1: realized that Jesus, when they saw that Jesus had healed them.
S1: And it makes me say, well, why didn't Jesus heal
S1: them by touching them? He was testing their faith. Don't
S1: you think.
S2: He's giving them an opportunity to obey?
S1: Yeah. To believe him. And as they go off, they
S1: see they're healed. And I think, what does this reveal
S1: to us about all ten lepers? What can we say
S1: good about all ten lepers or not? Lepers. Men with
S1: serious skin diseases.
S3: They obeyed.
S1: They obeyed. What else? They stepped out in faith.
S2: They stepped out in faith.
S1: They all had faith. They all. They all cried for
S1: Jesus mercy. They all stepped out in faith and they
S1: were all healed. I think that we can remember the
S1: other nine as well. They were men of faith. We'll
S1: be back with more of our Bible study in just
S1: a moment. You're listening to Open Line with Mike or Nick? Every.
UU: Nick and Tricia McMillan.
S1: Welcome back to Open Line. I'm Michael Ray Dolnick. Joining
S1: me today for a special pre-recorded broadcast on Thanksgiving weekend
S1: is Eva Ray Dolnick. She's my colleague at Moody and
S1: my wife for many, many years. We won't say how
S1: long because we're both just 39. And, uh, Also joining me,
S1: Tricia McMillan. And Tricia is the producer of Open Line
S1: and someone that really studies the Bible intensively. Uh, I
S1: don't think people realize. Tricia, I always have to tell
S1: people you have a master of arts in biblical studies,
S1: don't you? Isn't that what it is?
S3: It's a master of ministry.
S1: But. But it's from Moody. And she studied in an
S1: undergraduate degree from Moody. This is a girl that could
S1: teach anyone the Bible. Uh, she is terrific at that.
S1: And so we're having a Bible study together.
S2: We hope you have your Bible open to your table
S2: with your coffee. If you have time, you.
S1: Know, that's it. So many people do tell me they
S1: do that with the Bible questions that come in. They
S1: listen regularly and they are listening with their Bibles open
S1: and their cup of coffee, and they're taking notes. And
S1: I really appreciate that. But some have even told me,
S1: and I'm so grateful for this as well, that they
S1: have become kitchen table partners. The way you become a
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S1: we're going to go right back to the Bible study,
S1: the one we're studying, the ten lepers or the ten
S1: men with skin diseases who were healed. And and they
S1: all step out in faith and they all are healed. Yield,
S1: but one of them comes back and it says, and
S1: he was a Samaritan. What's the significance of being a Samaritan?
S1: I mean, John, it tells us Jews had no dealings
S1: with Samaritans. What do you think? What's so significant about
S1: being a Samaritan?
S2: Well, I think it's it's a territory. So he lived
S2: in that area. But the thing that made it significant
S2: was the Samaritans in in the Old Testament period, the
S2: people who lived there, they set up a syncretistic form
S2: of worshiping the God of Israel. So their worship was
S2: not true to the to the biblical model that we have.
S2: They added stuff. They did things different.
S1: Well, they cut out. They only believed in the Torah, right?
S1: And they adjusted the Torah to fit their culture. The
S1: other thing that they did is they were, uh, they
S1: were the product of, of a mixed community of Assyrians and,
S1: and Jewish Israelites who had remained there when the Assyrian
S1: captivity came. The Assyrians intermarried them and as a result
S1: they got this corrupted, corrupted form of Judaism, so much
S1: so that they were now considered foreigners. And Jesus actually
S1: calls him a foreigner.
S2: And they didn't worship in Jerusalem. They worshipped at a
S2: different place in Samaria as their so.
S1: But it wasn't just that they were different. They were.
S1: They were despised.
S3: Yeah. Well, so so I'm I'm interested in the fact
S3: that this man was potentially living in a community with
S3: Jewish men. Yeah. That either they've accepted him or they
S3: at least, at least live in a similar area. Yeah.
S1: Why do you think that is? Yeah.
S3: That these men are also in a. Are they in
S3: a Samaritan? I mean, it says they're in between. They're
S3: in a village. So we don't necessarily know that the
S3: other nine Jewish men are living in Samaria, but they're
S3: in that.
S1: I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Samaritan village
S1: nearby just south of where they were, and a Galilean
S1: village just north. And they were all kind of. Out.
S1: And they were all in the inn, as he called it,
S1: before a leper colony. Together. And it's the the companionship
S1: of misery that they, you know. When people are living
S1: at the, at the, at the dregs on the outside
S1: without any hope of ever getting on the inside, very
S1: often issues like.
S2: Those destitute circumstances bind them together more than their differences
S2: would have kept them apart. Yeah.
S1: So? So they're all together. But, you know, the Samaritans,
S1: they were they were not just despised. People always think
S1: of the Samaritans as being good because of the parable
S1: of the Good Samaritan. And that misses the point of
S1: the parable of the Good Samaritan, that the reason it
S1: was so shocking that that Samaritan was good is because
S1: they were so despised. They had obstructed the Jewish people
S1: when they returned from captivity and wanted to build Jerusalem.
S1: If you read the book of Nehemiah, it is Samaritans
S1: who are participating in trying to keep them from the
S1: Jewish people, from building Jerusalem. Later on, when the when the, uh, Antiochus, uh,
S1: during the time of Hanukkah, when he was attacking the
S1: Jewish people and he was defiling the the temple and
S1: trying to make practice of the worship of the God
S1: of Israel illegal, it was Samaritans who sided with him, uh,
S1: and joined, uh, Antiochus the Fourth in his oppression of
S1: the Jewish people. And, uh, as a result, one of
S1: the descendants of the Maccabees destroyed their temple on Mount Gerizim.
S1: It led to a great deal of hostility, but the
S1: only way I could describe a Samaritan would be sort
S1: of like, uh, the local drug pusher or the the, the,
S1: the supporter of terrorism of al Qaeda or something like that.
S1: They they were really on the outs. And yet this
S1: one is the one that comes back. Uh, and so
S1: here's the thing. None of them could have expected healing, right? Right.
S1: But why was this even more true of a Samaritan?
S1: None of them could expect. I mean, you can't expect
S1: God to heal you or the Messiah to come in
S1: your presence and heal you. But they asked, why was
S1: this Samaritan? You know, why was it even that if
S1: if it's. I say it's true of everyone, but it's
S1: even more true of a Samaritan. Why?
S2: I think that Jesus was known as a local traveling teacher. Rabbi.
S2: His his law was all from the from the from
S2: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And yet he's
S2: ghosted this person and asked for mercy. Yeah, he goes.
S1: To him and and.
S3: Even even in his teaching, like so my Bible cross-referenced. Um,
S3: Matthew ten, verse five, when Jesus sends out the 12
S3: and tells them, go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter
S3: no town of the Samaritans, but rather go to the
S3: lost sheep of the house of Israel. This was not
S3: his priority of people that he that his main ministry
S3: was to.
S1: Yeah. His main ministry was to Israel. And and here's
S1: the thing to remember. Israel is the covenant people. They
S1: had a covenant by which to stand with God. They
S1: had the Abrahamic covenant. God gave special promises, including promises
S1: of blessing to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
S1: So they had covenant standing. The Samaritans were cut off.
S1: They had no standing. They could. They had no basis
S1: upon which to appeal to the Messiah of Israel. They
S1: had nothing, no expectation of any relationship with the Messiah
S1: of Israel. Even Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, we
S1: worship that which we know for salvation is of the Jews.
S1: He says to her. He doesn't say it's of the Samaritans.
S1: And yet here he is. He is the one with
S1: these others who is healed. He had less expectation than
S1: any of us.
S2: I think maybe he was more amazed than. Yeah.
S3: Would it would it have been typical for him to
S3: go to the priest in Jerusalem? I mean, Jesus says,
S3: go to the priest. I don't know him.
S1: I don't know, maybe he's a true follower of the
S1: God of Israel now and and then he can go
S1: to the priest in Jerusalem, because that's the issue at hand.
S1: Even there's a court of the Gentiles. Gentiles can come
S1: and worship in, in Jerusalem. Uh, and so he's going
S1: there to do that.
S2: So, yeah, maybe he suddenly understood what it really meant. Yeah.
S1: Yeah, maybe, maybe that's what it was. Uh, now. Uh,
S1: so what does that make him? It makes him not
S1: just grateful like the others. It makes him, I think,
S1: even more grateful. He has a. I think the others
S1: were grateful. I don't doubt it. But how does he
S1: express his greater gratitude?
S3: He sacrifices his time to turn around and come back.
S3: And his energy. Yeah.
S1: And he's glorifying God. So he really believes in God now,
S1: and he is coming to thank the Lord Jesus for
S1: what he has done. And it's because his he had
S1: a greater sense of of God's grace and mercy in
S1: his life, because he had nothing to stand on. And
S1: so what the question then becomes, how can we become
S1: more grateful? What can we expect God to do for us? What?
S1: What can we right? What's our standing that we can say, God,
S1: you must show me mercy. What can we expect of God?
S1: I have a verse there that I that I often
S1: think of. It's Lamentations 322 because it's it's what we
S1: can expect of God. As so often we don't, you know,
S1: when we think about it. What can I expect of God?
S1: What do I deserve from God? And here's what it says. Uh,
S1: because of the Lord's faithful love, we do not perish.
S1: I like some versions that say, because of the Lord's
S1: love or his loving kindness, we are not consumed. What
S1: do I deserve every moment of the day? I deserve
S1: lightning bolts from heaven. That's what I deserve. Uh, if
S1: I were to say, God, give me what I deserve,
S1: I'd be a little pile of cinder right here.
S2: Right?
S1: And so that that's a great reminder, because we always
S1: think we deserve so much more. And yet, if we
S1: got what we deserved, we'd be just dust. And I
S1: think that's what this Samaritan understood, that he didn't deserve anything.
S1: And yet he got the greatest gift that he could imagine.
S1: He was healed of this skin disease. And so, uh,
S1: I think that's what the that's what he received. Well,
S1: if that's what made him grateful, what what should we
S1: be grateful for?
S3: Much more.
S1: Much more.
S2: You know, I was thinking just earlier in this passage,
S2: Jesus talks about he gives this the story about, uh,
S2: about faith and and obedience, and he gives the story
S2: about the guy who comes in and with his servant.
S2: And he didn't say to his servant, go and sit
S2: down and I'll take care of you. The servant says, no, no,
S2: it's my job to take care of you. And he
S2: ends that little dialogue. And just right before the lepers
S2: being cleansed. And in Luke 1710 it says, so too,
S2: when you do all things which are commanded of you, say,
S2: we are unworthy slaves. We have done only that which
S2: we ought to have done. That's our attitude. Anything we
S2: do is we're unworthy. So it's.
S1: Unworthiness. So I think the point of this story, the
S1: great lesson for us, if we want to develop a
S1: heart of thanksgiving, a heart of gratitude, it's to to
S1: compare what we do deserve, which is judgment with what
S1: God has given us.
S2: Which is mercy.
S1: And it's when we realize how much God has given us,
S1: how much mercy he has shown us compared to what
S1: we deserve, will become like this 10th man with skin disease.
S1: And we'll just keep going back, being more and more grateful. Uh,
S1: it's I think the reason that we are not grateful
S1: sometimes is we we forget what we do deserve.
S2: We sort of take it for granted.
S3: Yeah, we have this. We have this attitude of expectation
S3: of that we're better than we actually are. Yeah. Because
S3: that we're entitled to God's mercy. Yeah. Because we're not.
S2: We're better than that guy. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S4: Yeah.
S1: Actually, even when we think we're better than that guy,
S1: we're not really.
S2: We probably.
S1: Were not. But nevertheless.
S4: We think we are.
S3: Yeah. Pride, man.
S1: Yeah.
S4: So.
S1: So we're going to talk about now that we know
S1: what we deserve and how gracious God is and how
S1: merciful he is.
S2: And how grateful we should be.
S4: Yeah, we're going.
S1: To come back and talk about some steps we can
S1: take about how to be more grateful all the time.
S1: So stay with us. You're listening to Open Line with
S1: Michael Jelinek. Jelinek and Tricia McMillan. More Bible study straight ahead.
S1: We're so glad that Febc partners with Open Line with
S1: Doctor Michael Radonich, bringing the Febc mailbag every week. Learn
S1: how Far East Broadcasting Company is taking Christ to the
S1: world at febc. Org on their weekly podcast. Until all
S1: have heard with editor cannon, you'll hear stories of lives
S1: changed by Messiah. All across the globe again. You can
S1: hear the podcast when you visit febc. Org. That's febc. Org.
S1: Welcome back to Open Line with me. Michael Radonich joining
S1: me today, Eva Radonich. Tricia McMillan as well, we've been
S1: studying the story of the the Samaritan who came back
S1: and said, thank you when Jesus healed him of his
S1: skin disease. Right now, what we want to do is
S1: talk about some principles from Scripture about how to be
S1: a person, how to express thanks, how we should have
S1: a grateful heart. And I was thinking of a verse
S1: that says Psalm. It's Psalm 30, verses ten through 12.
S1: It says, uh, Lord, you have turned my mourning into
S1: joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning
S1: and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises
S1: to you and not be silent. And here it is. Oh,
S1: Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever. It's something.
S1: Gratitude should be something that we express continually. Okay, Tricia,
S1: you have a favorite verse you want to hit?
S3: I do. I was looking at first Thessalonians 516 through
S3: 18 which says, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks
S3: in all circumstances, for this is the will of God
S3: in Christ Jesus for you. That it is this whole
S3: attitude that characterizes your inner life that you are rejoicing
S3: always in all circumstances, praying without ceasing, not that you're
S3: always praying, but that it is a constantly recurring with
S3: faithful consistency. Prayer life. Um, and.
S1: Even giving crummy circumstances, even crummy.
S3: Circumstances give thanks in all circumstances. Not for all circumstances,
S3: but in all circumstances. For this is the will of
S3: God in Christ Jesus for you. And there was a
S3: story that I heard in, in seminary, um, about Matthew Henry,
S3: who had a man had stolen his wallet, and out
S3: of that, he reflected on the incident and wrote down
S3: these four things about being thankful. And the first was
S3: that I'm thankful that he never robbed me before. Number two,
S3: I'm thankful that although he took my wallet, he did
S3: not take my life. Number three although he took all
S3: I had, it was not much. And number four, I'm
S3: glad it was I who was robbed and not I
S3: who did the robbing. So just having that perspective that
S3: can change how you even view your circumstances.
S2: That's so great. What a what a great story.
S1: So it's it's a consistent life of thanksgiving. Not just
S1: constant but consistent in all circumstances. Eva, you have a
S1: verse that you wanted.
S2: Well, I was I am struck by in Hebrews chapter 13,
S2: verse 15 and 16, it says through Jesus. Then let
S2: us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,
S2: that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to
S2: his name. That the process of thanking God is like
S2: what was like equivalent to like, the sacrificial system. It's
S2: just it's our gift that we give to him. And,
S2: and and so that offering thanks is not just something
S2: that we toss off unimportantly, but it is very valuable
S2: and precious to God. Things that we say.
S3: And sacrificial.
S2: And sacrificial.
S1: And speaking of that, I want to jump over to
S1: Psalm 107, uh, verse 22. It says in the NIV,
S1: let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works
S1: with songs of joy. So it obviously we sing our thanks,
S1: but we give gifts. In the Old Testament they gave
S1: thank offerings. And I think one of the best ways
S1: to express our gratitude is through giving. It's one of
S1: the reasons that we give to God. I think every
S1: gift that we give, monetary gift we give to God,
S1: it is an expression of our gratitude to him. That's
S1: why I say when we give to God, we ought
S1: never to give Grudgingly, but also, but always with an
S1: attitude of gratitude. That's how we express thanks to God.
S4: Uh, yeah, I.
S3: Have I have another one in Psalm 69. It's, uh,
S3: verse 32, it says, this is after David has praised
S3: the name of God with a song and how he
S3: gives thanks. Um, when the humble see it, they will
S3: be glad. You who seek God, let your hearts revive.
S3: Just the idea that Thanksgiving can spread, similar to how
S3: complaining can kind of multiply with within a community, that
S3: everyone starts complaining that Thanksgiving can spread to others too,
S3: and that Thanksgiving is refreshing. That it can. It helps,
S3: you know, it's refreshing. It revives.
S2: You. So we looked at at Hebrews 1315 in the
S2: follow up verses. It plugs right into these ideas, for
S2: it says, and do not neglect doing good and sharing.
S2: For with such sacrifices God is pleased. So we give,
S2: we give thanks, and we also take action. We help others.
S2: And it it pleases God and it refreshes the community.
S1: I think that this is one of the reasons I
S1: think we should give thanks all the time, every day alone.
S1: But it says in Psalm 35, I will give you
S1: thanks in the great assembly among throngs of people. I
S1: will praise you. And it's why we gather for worship
S1: to say thank you to God. And you know I
S1: agree with you, Tricia. It's just like complaining is is contagious.
S1: Thanksgiving is contagious. It's why we gather gathered in our
S1: homes on Thursday. That's why we did it. So that
S1: we can gather together and say thank you to God.
S1: It's also why we gather with with God's people. And
S1: we say collectively, thank you to God. It's why we
S1: shouldn't neglect getting together to collectively thank God. I think
S1: that that's so crucial for us. We can't forget that
S1: it is contagious to thank God, and that's why we
S1: need to get together and do it. And I can't
S1: believe our hour is up. So glad for Eva Radonich
S1: joining me today and also for Tricia McMillan. So glad
S1: for all of you who listened in. Really appreciate that. Uh,
S1: and thanks, Courtney, for being our engineer. And remember, keep
S1: in touch with Open Line during the week by going
S1: to our web page, which is Open Line radio.org. That
S1: page has everything you need, whether it's past programs, a
S1: place for your questions, a link to find us on Facebook. Also,
S1: there's a way, if you give, uh, a way to
S1: get our Bibles, the resource from Chosen People Ministries and
S1: how to become a kitchen table partner as well. Keep
S1: reading the Bible. We'll talk about it next week. Open
S1: line with Michael Ray Dolnick is a production of Moody Radio,
S1: the ministry of Moody Bible Institute.