It's Thanksgiving weekend and we're still celebrating. Why not keep thanking God? But did you ever wonder why some people feel more thankful than others? Stay with us. We're going to have a great Bible study to talk about that. Welcome to the Radio Kitchen table. It's our Bible study across America. This is open line with Doctor Michael Radonich. I'm Michael Radonich, professor of Jewish studies and Bible here at Moody Bible Institute. This is a special pre-recorded one
hour edition of Open Line. We're going to have a special Bible study. I have some people here who are going to study the scriptures with me. Joining me today will be, as always, Tricia McMillan, who is our producer. And she's going to be not just behind the mic, behind the glass. She's going to be right in here. Welcome, Tricia. Thank you. I'm so glad that Trish is here, because she is someone that I know every time I say, oh, can we do this and this? Or can we meet
for for a pre-record or something like that? She says, well, I have to work it around my Bible study. So, Tricia, one of the things I like about you is that you're someone that's not only studying the Bible on your own, but studying it in groups. And that's what we're going to do now. And right now. Also joining me is my favorite Bible teacher, the person I study with virtually
every day. It's Eva, right? Unlike my colleague here at Moody Bible Institute and a contributor to the Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy, and also my wife.
Hey, great to be here with you guys today. Such a great day to be looking at the word together.
Yep. And so it's a special pre-recorded edition. Don't call in today. And the reason is that no one will pick up. But you can go to Openline radio.org. That's our website. And there's a place there that says Ask Michael a question. So click on that and you can send a question in for the mailbag, and we'll be sure to get to that in upcoming weeks. But and by the way, while you're there, you can check out everything else that's at the web page. I'm sure you'll
find lots of interesting things, past programs. And you can find also links to to other important aspects of Open Line, uh, even a link to my personal web page if you're ever interested in that. You can see where I'm speaking and what I'm up to. So anyway, that's that's what you can do. But what we really want to do today is have a Bible study about Thanksgiving. And I've been thinking about, uh, Thanksgiving. This I like celebrating the whole week. Not just the day, not just the weekend,
but celebrating the whole week. And it's because it's a great reminder that we should celebrate Thanksgiving every day. That should be our attitude. And so that's what we're going to be studying. Uh, Thanksgiving and we're all going to bring we're all going to bring it. We're all going to study the scriptures, and we're going to share what it is that that is most meaningful to us. And I wanted to start just by reminding us of a story I once heard about a little girl who gave
whose mom gave her an orange. When the girl said nothing, her mom reminded her, as moms are wont to do, she said, what do you say? The girl thought for a moment and said, peel it. And I thought, how often are we like that? That we just instead of being grateful for what we've been given, we just want more and more and we don't have an expectation. We we have an expectation of more instead of an attitude of gratitude. And that's what I really want to talk about.
And so what we're going to do to start with is to study the story in Luke 17, verses 11 through 19. And what we're going to do is just take a look at that passage about the ten lepers that Jesus healed. Okay. Okay. So let's let's get our Bibles out. Let's get, uh, turn to Luke 17, verses 11 through 19. Uh, I don't believe that this is
necessarily anything. It's it's some, I guess I would say are some incidents from the teaching and experiences of Jesus in this little section of Luke and his earthly ministry. And so I'm just going to read the passage to start with, and then we're going to work on some observations. Okay. Okay. While traveling to Jerusalem, he passed between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered the village, ten men with serious skin diseases met him. They stood at a distance and raised
their voices, saying, Jesus, master, have mercy on us. When he saw them, he told them, go and show yourselves to the priests. And while they were going, they were healed. But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice gave glory to God. He fell face down at his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus said, were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Didn't any return to give glory to God except this foreigner? And he told him, get
up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well. So that's the the story that's laid out. The story of the ten lepers. And I thought, we're going to start with some questions. And whenever we start with Bible study, I think the best thing to do is to make observations, to take a look at the text and just observe what's there. And so the very first question that we need to observe is what is leprosy? I think that people sometimes misunderstand it. Anyone? Uh.
I think if you ask people what's the most common disease talked about in the Bible, they would say leprosy, even though they may not know what leprosy is. Yeah.
I think it's interesting because my version here, it says that they stood they had serious skin diseases, not leprosy. What does Iva's got? The new American standard, uh, in Luke 17.
Right?
It it uses the word leprosy, I do believe.
Yeah.
And what version are you looking at, Trish?
Uh, I have the CSB and I have the ESV, and.
The ESV says.
Uh, he was met by ten lepers.
Lepers? See, here's one of the things is that there's a modern skin disease called leprosy that, uh, that has a distinct, Distinctive characteristics. And yet I don't believe that that's what is in the text of the Bible. And so often when people read this story, they think of the modern skin disease of leprosy that's degenerative, and it takes away the flesh and it eats it away completely. And they think that that's what they have. It's not
what they have. They they had some sort of skin disease.
It was kind of a it seems like it's sort of a general term for skin disease. Yes. Yes. Like today you might say, well, they have acne, but there's different kinds of acne or they have dermatitis. There's different kinds of.
There's all kinds of dermatitis. Exactly. And so it's a skin disease of some sort. Not necessarily leprosy.
But they were apparently having to live apart or something. They were kind of together.
Yeah. Why are they standing at a distance? Anyone know.
So it may be infectious. Okay. A possibility. Yeah.
I think, uh, part of the requirements of any kind of skin disease in the Torah. Leviticus 13. It says, by the way, in Leviticus 13 has my life verse in it. Yes. It's if a man this is verse 40, if a man loses the hair of his head, he is bald, but he is clean. That's my life verse.
There we go. Because you are. No, you have lost a few hairs.
On your head. I'm follicly.
Challenged. It might be the future.
No, I'm follicly challenged. That's what I am. But anyway, uh, the the verse that I'm thinking of is verses 45 and 46. This whole chapter, uh, in fact, Leviticus 13 and 14 has to do with skin diseases. And it says the person afflicted with an infectious skin disease is to have his clothes torn and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, unclean, unclean! He'll remain unclean as long as he has the infection. He is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp.
Right. And what verse is that in Leviticus 13?
Verses 45 and 46. So skin diseases were required for people to live apart. They they couldn't they could be with each other, but they could not be with people in the camp or in the city. And the reason was it was likely infectious.
It's like what we would think of today as being quarantined. You'd quarantine people that have it? Yeah.
And to warn people to prevent them from catching this, uh, infectious disease. And I think that that's that's, uh, it's pretty serious and pretty lonely, don't you think?
Mhm. Well, and if there were ten of them, I guess the idea I would get is are they living together. Yeah. You know as a group. Is there like a small group that the people who have leprosy, who have skin diseases. Go to this certain area and live together. They have like this as a camp.
Outside the outside the community. Yeah.
What we would think of as a leper colony. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. That's. That's the same idea that that they would live together because they didn't have fear of making each other a infected and be this kind of. It's usually these diseases that have open wounds that were, were open and seeping. Uh, that.
That it won't infect anyone else. Yeah.
But also it made them ritually unclean.
Right.
So they couldn't enter into worship? Of course. Uh, I think that you don't want to get anyone else unclean, but also you don't want to keep people from worship and so that they had to stay separate. It didn't mean that they were morally unclean. It meant that they were ritually unclean. They couldn't enter into worship with the community of Israel. And so you have this group of people and, you know, they have some special request of Jesus. And we're going to talk about that in just a minute.
But we're going to take a break here. You're listening to Open Line. It's a special Bible study. Today. We're starting with Luke 17 verses 11 through 19. Joining me, Eva Radonic and Tricia McMillan. And we're working our way through this text and we're going to learn. It's so great to learn how we can be more thankful every day. Stay with me. This is Michael Ray Dolnick on Open Line.
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open line, call (888) 644-7122 or visit open Line radio.org. Some claim Paul is the key person who took the message of the Jewish Messiah. Jesus made it into something Gentile. But Paul is also the one who wrote, brethren, my heart's desire for Israel is for their salvation. Romans ten one. Chosen people ministries. One of our underwriters wants us all to learn what drove Paul's passion for his own people. They're offering the book The Heart of the Apostle by
Rich Freeman, free to all open line listeners. To get this exposition of Romans nine through 11, just go to our website, openline radio.org. Scroll down to the link that says A free gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on that and you'll be taken to a page where you can sign up for your very own free copy of The Heart of the Apostle. Welcome back to this special Thanksgiving weekend edition of Open Line with me, Mike Radonich, and joining me today, Tricia McMillan, producer of Open Line.
And Eva Radonich, my colleague at Moody and the person who teaches me the Bible all week long. And we're going to be continuing our study in Luke 17. It's pre-recorded. You can't call in, but you can join us, get your Bible out to Luke 17, and we're going to look from verse 11 onward, we're studying the passage about Jesus healing of the ten men with skin diseases. These men are standing at a distance from Jesus because they have skin diseases. They are unclean both. And they may
be contagious, but also they're ritually unclean. They don't want to get everyone else unclean because of Leviticus 13. They are standing at a distance, but now they see Jesus? And what specifically do they ask of Jesus? When you look at the text? It says in verse 13 what what their request is.
They want mercy.
Yeah. Don't you think that's interesting? Would you have asked that question? I would have.
Asked. Heal me, heal me.
Make me well. Yeah. Yeah.
I think it's because they were so despised because of this skin disease that they were just crying out for mercy. And in essence, that becomes a substitute for being healed. They they did. They were asking for healing, but it was an act of mercy.
They the healing would come out of his act of mercy. Exactly.
That's what they were asking. I think that's kind of interesting. So that that's a great reminder for everything that we get from God.
Mhm.
That it's it's not it's not something we can demand. We can't demand anything of God but we get a gift of mercy constantly from him, and that's what they did.
But can you define mercy? Mercy.
Mercy. You know, grace is a gift that God gives us. He shows us kindness. It's a positive act. It's giving us something we don't deserve. Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve. That's what mercy is.
That would be isolation and being set outside the camp or outside the city, and not being able to worship is what they do deserve. Yeah. Okay.
And and they do deserve even bad things. You know, when we think about it, we all sin. So what do we deserve? We all deserve bad things to happen to us. And God doesn't allow bad things to happen to us all the time. That's his mercy. He's not giving us what we deserve when we're forgiven. Forgiveness, by the way, is a free gift. It's by grace through faith. The Bible says we are saved by grace through faith. That means it is a gift of God. It is.
We are being given something we don't deserve, but also we have been saved by his mercy. We do deserve judgment, but he doesn't give it to us because he took it on himself. And so it's not getting what we do deserve. That's what mercy is. Grace is being receiving something that we don't deserve.
So, okay, can we come back sometime and do a whole Bible study hour just on the mercy of God?
That would be great.
So good.
It is amazing when you think about it, how merciful and gracious he is. Okay, so I'm looking at this text and what's Jesus response to them? He says, go and show yourselves to the priests. What's the point of Jesus telling them to show themselves to the priests.
Mm. I think they realized they were they were being obedient to the mosaic covenant, to the Priestly Code by not by keeping themselves apart. They were they were obeying that. That's why they were living separately. And all this. So he says, okay, the next step then is to go and show yourself. But but where does the healing happen? Yeah.
Well, I don't think it happens till afterwards, but here's the interesting. Go and show yourselves to the priests. The priests kind of functioned as health inspectors. If a person remember the skin disease made them ritually unclean. If they were to enter back into fellowship, they had to go to a priest and show that they were now clean.
That's what was required in the Law of Moses. In fact, if you most, most Bibles that have cross-references would point you to the verse about where they're supposed to go to the priest, and that's in Leviticus 13 is is what what the requirements are. Leviticus 13 and 14 have all the judges, all the the requirements for skin diseases and staying off at a distance. And then it talks about when someone is is cleansed that they have to go and show themselves to the priest. And, and then
the priest will affirm that they can enter again into worship. Uh, it says in Leviticus uh 1314, uh, he says, for example, uh, in verse 43, if the contamination reappears in the house, I'm sorry. When the priest comes and examines, it has all these issues of, uh, the priest, uh, taking care of it. I'm trying to find the exact verse. Uh, it says, uh, here we go. If the skin disease
has disappeared. This is verse three. Uh, if the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person, the priest will order that two live clean birds cedarwood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one who is to be cleansed. And the priest will order that one of the birds to be slaughtered over fresh water. And so it also says in 1353. It it talks about all the ways that the priest will examine everything and to show that it has been cleansed, and therefore they can restore, be
restored to fellowship. So that's what it's talking about. Uh, that they have to go show themselves to the priests, I would think I would say, well, why would I show myself to the priest? What do you think they thought when Jesus said, go show yourself to the priest.
I think they might have been hopeful or. Yeah, yeah.
Like, is something gonna happen? And maybe they had heard. Okay, so apparently they have heard about who Jesus is enough to see him as he's walking past their town to call to him so they know who he is. So even though they're on the outskirts, there's some sort of gossip train working that that they know who he is. And earlier in Luke, in Luke five, he's healed the lame man. Um, he's healed someone else. Who? He also tells. Go to the priest and show him that you're cleansed. Um.
Another another person with.
Another disease who had who had skin disease. Yeah. Um, that that he has healed him of that. And there's a chance they had heard about that. That. Well, maybe maybe he'll heal us, too. Okay, well, and you just turn and go in faith and and a lot of these people that Jesus healed, he says, go do this. And they're like, okay. I'm like, whether they they think he's crazy or not, they still do it. They obey, and then something happens to them. You know, often they're healed.
And so if they've heard that story, maybe they thought, well, maybe something will happen on the way, I don't know.
I think it's so interesting in Luke five, as you mentioned there, you know how unclean they are. But he says, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean. Reaching out his hand, he touched him, saying, I am willing. Be made clean. And so Jesus cleanses him. In Luke five, this man with a serious skin disease, and he's not afraid of the contagion. He is. Yeah. He just touches him. Yeah. And so now they call out and he says, go walk. And you caught it there. Tricia. You said they just
they did it in faith. They just did what he said. It's that a lot of people really trash all ten of the men with serious skin diseases, because only one came back. So the other nine are all better, but I do I do want to say, look at that. One of them came back, but all of them expressed faith because they would not. It says in the text right there. Uh, he told them, go show yourselves to the priests. And while they were going.
They were cleansed.
They were healed. Yeah. And so that means that they stepped out in faith. They had to actually believe that Jesus would heal them or or they would not have been healed. And they step out and they go to the priest and as they start going, they're like, and it doesn't say how far they went, but it must have been some distance. And they're like, wait a minute, you can just see it. They start looking at their arms.
Looking at one another's faces maybe.
Yeah. And saying, look at us. We're healed. They believed what Jesus said. Uh, and he heals them. Not by touching them here. He heals them with a word. He just sends them off and he heals them from from a distance. Mhm.
Would the priest who is the one who declares them clean, have only been one priest who is in Jerusalem?
Well, there may have been many priests who functioned that way, but they would have been in Jerusalem.
They would have been in Jerusalem.
At the temple. And so they're going a distance.
Yeah. Because if they're in between Samaria and Galilee, they're up further north. Yeah. And on their way to Jerusalem. But that's I don't know how many miles or kilometers that would be, but it's a little significant on the map if you look at the map.
I know when I read this story, and I think most people, when they imagine it, they think the people stepped out and they started walking to Jerusalem and they went about ten yards. And then they looked down and they saw that their skin disease was better. And, and and then one of them rushes back. The others just could care less about what Jesus had to say and or do, and only one came back. But I think
they were going a distance. It's while they're on their way to Jerusalem, as you say, it's quite a distance. That's when they're healed. So they could.
Have gone 20 miles before they were healed. Yes. Because it looks like it's like 50 or more miles.
I think it had been even more because it says they were between Samaria and Galilee. So if you if you think of it, the the layout of the land, you've got Galilee, Samaria, and then Jerusalem. So they were pretty far north of Jerusalem if they were between Samaria and Galilee when this.
Happened, even more of a sacrifice than if he. I mean, I know how tiring it is, just if you're in your house or you're at your job and you're like, oh, I left that at my desk, I have to turn around and go get it and go up a flight of stairs or you know, where it's not very long. Oh, I left that in my bedroom. And it it's I'm now on the other side of the house, which may just be three rooms away, but you're tired. You don't
want to do that. And, and if this is, you know, 20 or 30 miles before they're healed and the man turned around and went back, that's an even bigger sacrifice than I. Than I'm imagining it was so.
So the Lord Jesus heals them with His Word. He sends them off and they go, and they're making a trip. And I agree with you totally. I was leaving the house today to come here, and I realized I left my phone upstairs in the bedroom charging, and we were out by the back door ready to go out. And I said, I got to get my phone turned around and it was like, it's annoying. The worst thing is when you're in the car and pulling out and I'm so I'm glad I remembered that. But they were on
their way. They're going off a distance. It may have been a mile, may have been two miles. Who knows how far it was that they had gone when they realized that Jesus, when they saw that Jesus had healed them. And it makes me say, well, why didn't Jesus heal them by touching them? He was testing their faith. Don't you think.
He's giving them an opportunity to obey?
Yeah. To believe him. And as they go off, they see they're healed. And I think, what does this reveal to us about all ten lepers? What can we say good about all ten lepers or not? Lepers. Men with serious skin diseases.
They obeyed.
They obeyed. What else? They stepped out in faith.
They stepped out in faith.
They all had faith. They all. They all cried for Jesus mercy. They all stepped out in faith and they were all healed. I think that we can remember the other nine as well. They were men of faith. We'll be back with more of our Bible study in just a moment. You're listening to Open Line with Mike or Nick? Every.
Nick and Tricia McMillan.
Welcome back to Open Line. I'm Michael Ray Dolnick. Joining me today for a special pre-recorded broadcast on Thanksgiving weekend is Eva Ray Dolnick. She's my colleague at Moody and my wife for many, many years. We won't say how long because we're both just 39. And, uh, Also joining me, Tricia McMillan. And Tricia is the producer of Open Line and someone that really studies the Bible intensively. Uh, I
don't think people realize. Tricia, I always have to tell people you have a master of arts in biblical studies, don't you? Isn't that what it is?
It's a master of ministry.
But. But it's from Moody. And she studied in an undergraduate degree from Moody. This is a girl that could teach anyone the Bible. Uh, she is terrific at that. And so we're having a Bible study together.
We hope you have your Bible open to your table with your coffee. If you have time, you.
Know, that's it. So many people do tell me they do that with the Bible questions that come in. They listen regularly and they are listening with their Bibles open and their cup of coffee, and they're taking notes. And I really appreciate that. But some have even told me, and I'm so grateful for this as well, that they have become kitchen table partners. The way you become a kitchen table partner is by supporting Open Line each month, and if you do, I'll send you a special Bible
study called a Bible Study Moment. I might answer a Bible question, or we might do a series of of studies. It might be anything that you can help you study the Bible better. Just a Bible study tip, whatever it is. Uh, it's available biweekly. It comes in an email and you click on it and get to listen to it. It's a lot of fun. I love doing them, and it's a lot of fun to get the feedback from them. And if you want to become a kitchen table partner,
all you have to do is call (888) 644-7122. That's (888) 644-7122. Or go to open line radio.org. And you can sign up to be a kitchen table partner and help keep open line on the air. I really appreciate it. And we're going to go right back to the Bible study, the one we're studying, the ten lepers or the ten men with skin diseases who were healed. And and they all step out in faith and they all are healed. Yield, but one of them comes back and it says, and
he was a Samaritan. What's the significance of being a Samaritan? I mean, John, it tells us Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. What do you think? What's so significant about being a Samaritan?
Well, I think it's it's a territory. So he lived in that area. But the thing that made it significant was the Samaritans in in the Old Testament period, the people who lived there, they set up a syncretistic form of worshiping the God of Israel. So their worship was not true to the to the biblical model that we have. They added stuff. They did things different.
Well, they cut out. They only believed in the Torah, right? And they adjusted the Torah to fit their culture. The other thing that they did is they were, uh, they were the product of, of a mixed community of Assyrians and, and Jewish Israelites who had remained there when the Assyrian captivity came. The Assyrians intermarried them and as a result they got this corrupted, corrupted form of Judaism, so much so that they were now considered foreigners. And Jesus actually calls him a foreigner.
And they didn't worship in Jerusalem. They worshipped at a different place in Samaria as their so.
But it wasn't just that they were different. They were. They were despised.
Yeah. Well, so so I'm I'm interested in the fact that this man was potentially living in a community with Jewish men. Yeah. That either they've accepted him or they at least, at least live in a similar area. Yeah.
Why do you think that is? Yeah.
That these men are also in a. Are they in a Samaritan? I mean, it says they're in between. They're in a village. So we don't necessarily know that the other nine Jewish men are living in Samaria, but they're in that.
I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Samaritan village nearby just south of where they were, and a Galilean village just north. And they were all kind of. Out. And they were all in the inn, as he called it, before a leper colony. Together. And it's the the companionship of misery that they, you know. When people are living at the, at the, at the dregs on the outside without any hope of ever getting on the inside, very often issues like.
Those destitute circumstances bind them together more than their differences would have kept them apart. Yeah.
So? So they're all together. But, you know, the Samaritans, they were they were not just despised. People always think of the Samaritans as being good because of the parable of the Good Samaritan. And that misses the point of the parable of the Good Samaritan, that the reason it was so shocking that that Samaritan was good is because they were so despised. They had obstructed the Jewish people when they returned from captivity and wanted to build Jerusalem.
If you read the book of Nehemiah, it is Samaritans who are participating in trying to keep them from the Jewish people, from building Jerusalem. Later on, when the when the, uh, Antiochus, uh, during the time of Hanukkah, when he was attacking the Jewish people and he was defiling the the temple and trying to make practice of the worship of the God of Israel illegal, it was Samaritans who sided with him, uh, and joined, uh, Antiochus the Fourth in his oppression of
the Jewish people. And, uh, as a result, one of the descendants of the Maccabees destroyed their temple on Mount Gerizim. It led to a great deal of hostility, but the only way I could describe a Samaritan would be sort of like, uh, the local drug pusher or the the, the, the supporter of terrorism of al Qaeda or something like that. They they were really on the outs. And yet this one is the one that comes back. Uh, and so here's the thing. None of them could have expected healing, right? Right.
But why was this even more true of a Samaritan? None of them could expect. I mean, you can't expect God to heal you or the Messiah to come in your presence and heal you. But they asked, why was this Samaritan? You know, why was it even that if if it's. I say it's true of everyone, but it's even more true of a Samaritan. Why?
I think that Jesus was known as a local traveling teacher. Rabbi. His his law was all from the from the from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And yet he's ghosted this person and asked for mercy. Yeah, he goes.
To him and and.
Even even in his teaching, like so my Bible cross-referenced. Um, Matthew ten, verse five, when Jesus sends out the 12 and tells them, go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This was not his priority of people that he that his main ministry was to.
Yeah. His main ministry was to Israel. And and here's the thing to remember. Israel is the covenant people. They had a covenant by which to stand with God. They had the Abrahamic covenant. God gave special promises, including promises of blessing to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So they had covenant standing. The Samaritans were cut off. They had no standing. They could. They had no basis
upon which to appeal to the Messiah of Israel. They had nothing, no expectation of any relationship with the Messiah of Israel. Even Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, we worship that which we know for salvation is of the Jews. He says to her. He doesn't say it's of the Samaritans. And yet here he is. He is the one with these others who is healed. He had less expectation than any of us.
I think maybe he was more amazed than. Yeah.
Would it would it have been typical for him to go to the priest in Jerusalem? I mean, Jesus says, go to the priest. I don't know him.
I don't know, maybe he's a true follower of the God of Israel now and and then he can go to the priest in Jerusalem, because that's the issue at hand. Even there's a court of the Gentiles. Gentiles can come and worship in, in Jerusalem. Uh, and so he's going there to do that.
So, yeah, maybe he suddenly understood what it really meant. Yeah.
Yeah, maybe, maybe that's what it was. Uh, now. Uh, so what does that make him? It makes him not just grateful like the others. It makes him, I think, even more grateful. He has a. I think the others were grateful. I don't doubt it. But how does he express his greater gratitude?
He sacrifices his time to turn around and come back. And his energy. Yeah.
And he's glorifying God. So he really believes in God now, and he is coming to thank the Lord Jesus for what he has done. And it's because his he had a greater sense of of God's grace and mercy in his life, because he had nothing to stand on. And so what the question then becomes, how can we become more grateful? What can we expect God to do for us? What? What can we right? What's our standing that we can say, God, you must show me mercy. What can we expect of God?
I have a verse there that I that I often think of. It's Lamentations 322 because it's it's what we can expect of God. As so often we don't, you know, when we think about it. What can I expect of God? What do I deserve from God? And here's what it says. Uh, because of the Lord's faithful love, we do not perish. I like some versions that say, because of the Lord's love or his loving kindness, we are not consumed. What do I deserve every moment of the day? I deserve
lightning bolts from heaven. That's what I deserve. Uh, if I were to say, God, give me what I deserve, I'd be a little pile of cinder right here.
Right?
And so that that's a great reminder, because we always think we deserve so much more. And yet, if we got what we deserved, we'd be just dust. And I think that's what this Samaritan understood, that he didn't deserve anything. And yet he got the greatest gift that he could imagine. He was healed of this skin disease. And so, uh, I think that's what the that's what he received. Well, if that's what made him grateful, what what should we be grateful for?
Much more.
Much more.
You know, I was thinking just earlier in this passage, Jesus talks about he gives this the story about, uh, about faith and and obedience, and he gives the story about the guy who comes in and with his servant. And he didn't say to his servant, go and sit down and I'll take care of you. The servant says, no, no, it's my job to take care of you. And he ends that little dialogue. And just right before the lepers
being cleansed. And in Luke 1710 it says, so too, when you do all things which are commanded of you, say, we are unworthy slaves. We have done only that which we ought to have done. That's our attitude. Anything we do is we're unworthy. So it's.
Unworthiness. So I think the point of this story, the great lesson for us, if we want to develop a heart of thanksgiving, a heart of gratitude, it's to to compare what we do deserve, which is judgment with what God has given us.
Which is mercy.
And it's when we realize how much God has given us, how much mercy he has shown us compared to what we deserve, will become like this 10th man with skin disease. And we'll just keep going back, being more and more grateful. Uh, it's I think the reason that we are not grateful sometimes is we we forget what we do deserve.
We sort of take it for granted.
Yeah, we have this. We have this attitude of expectation of that we're better than we actually are. Yeah. Because that we're entitled to God's mercy. Yeah. Because we're not.
We're better than that guy. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Actually, even when we think we're better than that guy, we're not really.
We probably.
Were not. But nevertheless.
We think we are.
Yeah. Pride, man.
Yeah.
So.
So we're going to talk about now that we know what we deserve and how gracious God is and how merciful he is.
And how grateful we should be.
Yeah, we're going.
To come back and talk about some steps we can take about how to be more grateful all the time. So stay with us. You're listening to Open Line with Michael Jelinek. Jelinek and Tricia McMillan. More Bible study straight ahead. We're so glad that Febc partners with Open Line with Doctor Michael Radonich, bringing the Febc mailbag every week. Learn how Far East Broadcasting Company is taking Christ to the
world at febc. Org on their weekly podcast. Until all have heard with editor cannon, you'll hear stories of lives changed by Messiah. All across the globe again. You can hear the podcast when you visit febc. Org. That's febc. Org. Welcome back to Open Line with me. Michael Radonich joining me today, Eva Radonich. Tricia McMillan as well, we've been studying the story of the the Samaritan who came back and said, thank you when Jesus healed him of his
skin disease. Right now, what we want to do is talk about some principles from Scripture about how to be a person, how to express thanks, how we should have a grateful heart. And I was thinking of a verse that says Psalm. It's Psalm 30, verses ten through 12. It says, uh, Lord, you have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. And here it is. Oh,
Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever. It's something. Gratitude should be something that we express continually. Okay, Tricia, you have a favorite verse you want to hit?
I do. I was looking at first Thessalonians 516 through 18 which says, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. That it is this whole attitude that characterizes your inner life that you are rejoicing always in all circumstances, praying without ceasing, not that you're always praying, but that it is a constantly recurring with faithful consistency. Prayer life. Um, and.
Even giving crummy circumstances, even crummy.
Circumstances give thanks in all circumstances. Not for all circumstances, but in all circumstances. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And there was a story that I heard in, in seminary, um, about Matthew Henry, who had a man had stolen his wallet, and out of that, he reflected on the incident and wrote down these four things about being thankful. And the first was
that I'm thankful that he never robbed me before. Number two, I'm thankful that although he took my wallet, he did not take my life. Number three although he took all I had, it was not much. And number four, I'm glad it was I who was robbed and not I who did the robbing. So just having that perspective that can change how you even view your circumstances.
That's so great. What a what a great story.
So it's it's a consistent life of thanksgiving. Not just constant but consistent in all circumstances. Eva, you have a verse that you wanted.
Well, I was I am struck by in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 15 and 16, it says through Jesus. Then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name. That the process of thanking God is like what was like equivalent to like, the sacrificial system. It's just it's our gift that we give to him. And, and and so that offering thanks is not just something that we toss off unimportantly, but it is very valuable
and precious to God. Things that we say.
And sacrificial.
And sacrificial.
And speaking of that, I want to jump over to Psalm 107, uh, verse 22. It says in the NIV, let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy. So it obviously we sing our thanks, but we give gifts. In the Old Testament they gave thank offerings. And I think one of the best ways to express our gratitude is through giving. It's one of the reasons that we give to God. I think every gift that we give, monetary gift we give to God,
it is an expression of our gratitude to him. That's why I say when we give to God, we ought never to give Grudgingly, but also, but always with an attitude of gratitude. That's how we express thanks to God.
Uh, yeah, I.
Have I have another one in Psalm 69. It's, uh, verse 32, it says, this is after David has praised the name of God with a song and how he gives thanks. Um, when the humble see it, they will be glad. You who seek God, let your hearts revive. Just the idea that Thanksgiving can spread, similar to how complaining can kind of multiply with within a community, that everyone starts complaining that Thanksgiving can spread to others too, and that Thanksgiving is refreshing. That it can. It helps,
you know, it's refreshing. It revives.
You. So we looked at at Hebrews 1315 in the follow up verses. It plugs right into these ideas, for it says, and do not neglect doing good and sharing. For with such sacrifices God is pleased. So we give, we give thanks, and we also take action. We help others. And it it pleases God and it refreshes the community.
I think that this is one of the reasons I think we should give thanks all the time, every day alone. But it says in Psalm 35, I will give you thanks in the great assembly among throngs of people. I will praise you. And it's why we gather for worship to say thank you to God. And you know I agree with you, Tricia. It's just like complaining is is contagious. Thanksgiving is contagious. It's why we gather gathered in our
homes on Thursday. That's why we did it. So that we can gather together and say thank you to God. It's also why we gather with with God's people. And we say collectively, thank you to God. It's why we shouldn't neglect getting together to collectively thank God. I think that that's so crucial for us. We can't forget that it is contagious to thank God, and that's why we need to get together and do it. And I can't believe our hour is up. So glad for Eva Radonich
joining me today and also for Tricia McMillan. So glad for all of you who listened in. Really appreciate that. Uh, and thanks, Courtney, for being our engineer. And remember, keep in touch with Open Line during the week by going to our web page, which is Open Line radio.org. That page has everything you need, whether it's past programs, a
place for your questions, a link to find us on Facebook. Also, there's a way, if you give, uh, a way to get our Bibles, the resource from Chosen People Ministries and how to become a kitchen table partner as well. Keep reading the Bible. We'll talk about it next week. Open line with Michael Ray Dolnick is a production of Moody Radio, the ministry of Moody Bible Institute.