The Good Samaritan and Our Response to Global Conflict

In this special episode, Ed addresses the crisis in Israel and explores the parable of the Good Samaritan as a framework for Christian response to global conflict and cultural division.

• Shifting from the planned book study to address the urgent situation in Israel
• Examining the parable of the Good Samaritan in light of current events
• Understanding the cultural significance of a Samaritan helping a Jewish man
• Reflecting on who we "walk by" in our own lives and communities
• Sharing a personal story of helping someone from a different background
• Drawing parallels between the Good Samaritan and America's historical role in supporting Israel
• Discussing how political identities can become idolatrous
• Leading an extended prayer for Israel, the Palestinian people, and peace in the region
• Encouraging believers to transcend cultural and political divisions

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Chapters

• 0:00 Responding to Crisis in Israel
• 4:44 Understanding the Good Samaritan Today
• 10:27 Who Do We Walk By?
• 15:30 The Radical Act of Compassion
• 21:58 Praying for Peace in Israel
• 32:14 Resources and Ministry Updates
• 39:19 Episode Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Well, good evening. It's great to be with you. I'm your host, ed Tanney-McGlasson, and tonight I'm going to throw you—I'm calling an audible in light of what's happening on the news right now in Israel, and I thought I would talk a little bit tonight about how do we pray for Israel in the midst of all the things that are going on. We're actually going to spend some time praying at the end, and next week we're going to get back into our book and talk about what we were going to talk about this week and what we're reading through the Father You've Always Wanted. If he's not gotten your copy, you can get one here at our website. We're the only ones that have them. They're sold out on Amazon, but we'd love for you to have this and go through the study with us that we have. You can use that QR code right there with your phone, grab it and then do that, and we'll do that as well. But I want to get right into what's happening right now. It doesn't take much time to look at what's going on in the news the rocket's hailing down. I have my stream here on my phone right here. I've been praying about this whole situation and just Iran is launching hundreds and hundreds of missiles, and the Middle East is in a tremendous amount of confusion. And so what are we to do and how do we look at all that's going on in the world right now as followers of Jesus? What does he really want from us? What does he really want from us and this goes for the Jewish people right now that are coming this way maybe excluding those who are coming to escape conviction or let out of prisons? That's a crazy scenario in itself, but I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about our heart that God wants to foster inside of us so we really understand the impact that we can have as men, as fathers, as husbands If you're a gal watching a night as a mom, as a wife, and having the right heart before the Lord is crucial in dealing with every kind of people group out there. And so tonight I want to look at one of these stories that Jesus talked through to a lawyer who's whole job was to keep everybody focused in on, you know, keeping the law of Moses, and so I want to just get right into it.

Speaker 1: 3:31

We're going to talk tonight about the Good Samaritan. So when you think about the Good Samaritan. What are the images that you think of in your own life? I mean, are they you know who is the good Samaritan in your neighborhood, who are the people that God has, you know, put you close to in your life, that run into you where you see them and you immediately know who that person is. And so I mean it's a huge problem we have In Southern California.

Speaker 1: 4:07

Here we have immigrants who've crossed the border for a new life. We have lots of them in different parts of the country and you know, matter of fact, we're all immigrants. You know we all come from another place. We're all immigrants. You know. We all come from another place. Matter of fact, the Bible actually says that we're actually immigrants to this world. All of us are. And so what kind of heart does God want to develop in us with people that we don't agree with? Or maybe this Good Samaritan story is really about you and people who don't believe like you, or somebody who is part of a different political party? And boy isn't it true and so easy for us to demonize people today. Crazy the way things are in the world right now and how quickly we go to ostracizing and removing people. And so you know, part of the secret of this is really getting into a place where we truly have God's heart for the people that we have. And I can tell here we have a little issue here related to I don't know something. I'll let my team fix this in the background so you can handle this. I see me. So let's talk about the Good Samaritan. Here's his story. I guess Instagram's locked up. It's not moving right now. People are trying to get on, so forgive us for that and I see we'll fix that as we speak.

Speaker 1: 6:03

So Jesus tells this story and behold a lawyer who stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now, he wasn't just asking this question, he was trying to set Jesus up. He was there to find something else to accuse him of. What shall I do? And Jesus said to him well, what is written in the law? How do you read it? And so immediately this guy goes in. He goes well, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and your neighbor is yourself. And he said to him you have answered correctly, do this and you will live. And you know the priority there.

Speaker 1: 6:59

That's such a profound thing and that is that you know we're first called to. You know, if we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, first then our capacity to love our neighbors and people that are different than us, people who vote differently than we vote, people that have different skin colors. You know, maybe it's the poor you see in your neighborhood, maybe it's the camps that are set up on the streets for people without homes California, we have a lot of that and you know it's something that God puts in front of us all the time. And when we love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, when we're receiving from Him, when we live our lives to love God, there's an exchange that happens for you and I and it's really like a heart transplant where we begin then to not only love Him with all we have.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Then he gives us this capacity to love our neighbors as ourself, our neighbors as ourself, because, by the way you know, we are experts at loving ourselves. You might have self-hatred and everything else, but think about all the time you're focused on you, your family, your stuff, your toys, etc. Etc, etc, etc. And God wants you to really learn how to really love your neighbor as yourself. And he said if you do this, then you're going to live, you're going to live, you're going to have eternal life, you're going to live, you're going to have eternal life. But he said all these things to kind of set Jesus up because, as the story goes on, jesus said, but, desiring to justify himself, he said to Jesus Jesus knew these things. And who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? Is it the neighbor that I like, that I live next door? Who really is my neighbor? Is it the neighbor that I like, that I live next door? Who really is my neighbor?

Speaker 1: 9:30

And Jesus said a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. That's a 3,000 elevation drop, you know many, many miles of walking. It's a long trip. There's a lot of snake paths down the mountain where thieves and robbers can hide out and rob people, which they did. And so this man who's gone from Jerusalem to Jericho, a Jewish man, and he fell among robbers. And the reason why he's a Jewish man is because if he wasn't, then it would have said he was a Gentile or he was, you know, a Samaritan. And he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. And so what a horrible thing that happened to this guy. And just now, by chance, jesus says, a priest from the synagogue, he's going down that same road and he comes upon a fellow Jew that's in a ditch, and when he sees him on the other side as he's walking down, he walks past him.

Speaker 1: 11:13

Well, we do this all the time in our culture, don't we? You know, whatever those internal prejudices we have, those things in our life, it can happen. By the amount of wealth that you have, or the you know, you begin to look at people differently. And it's quite often when you go to places where and I just think this is fascinating we have some malls down around Newport Beach and there's a lot of gold-plated people to live. There are a lot of wonderful, incredible people, but boy, they sure don't like being put out. They don't like slow service in the restaurant. They don't like slow service in the restaurant. They don't like slow drivers on the road.

Speaker 1: 12:10

I mean, this guy had this. I'm not sure what it was, but it was a race car like a Bugatti, just like almost a million dollar race car today. He was following me in my, you know, really old but still great Toyota, and he's frustrated that he's slow and he's laughing at this guy. Of course he didn't like it that I laughed at him when I looked at him but he realized I was much bigger than he was. So he was going to just keep on going by this Jewish man who's in a ditch, you know, leaving him beat up and does nothing. So the first thing I want to ask you is that who do you walk by, who do you look away from? You know, one of the fascinating things that we've been learning together about being a beloved son or daughter to being an adopted, beloved son or daughter of God, the Father, is that if we all pay attention, he will show us with our eyes the people that he puts in our path, that he's called us to love and man, when we do that, those moments are just incredibly golden, because you never know how God would take a moment of meeting somebody and maybe completely turn around and change his life.

Speaker 1: 14:14

I'll tell you a story. During my football days and I was one of the things we said this restaurant here in Southern California called super chicken and a buddy of mine, dean Moraldi, and I. We were driving in his van on the way back, just finished eating a whole chicken each. This is during football days and we're driving down this just a normal kind of neighborhood road, not going very fast, and all of a sudden a man on a bicycle, a Mexican man, comes running out, crosses the street, comes right at me right and I'm sitting in the passenger seat and we hit him just head on and his bike flies one way, he gets thrown I don't know how many feet, and he's on the road, I mean, and his face I'll never forget. His face is plastered on the windshield, cracked the windshield and shot him out. Many feet in front of the car, dino slammed on his brakes when he saw this guy. It's like this guy was trying to commit suicide and man, I'm going to tell you, I mean it's stopped and my buddy Dean just didn't realize the time but he just, a gift of faith, hit him.

Speaker 1: 15:47

We both jump out of the car, we run over, we're stopping traffic and we run over this poor man who's you know, he's not quite in the ditch, but he's right on the median. And he's not quite in the ditch, but he's right on the median and he's gurgling and he's dying right in front of us and you know we had to do something. And Dino looks at him and says he looks at me and goes Ed McGlashan, you pray for him and raise him from the dead. I'm not going to kill this Mexican brother of mine. He didn't realize it was the gift of faith that hit him and so we went over, we grabbed hands, we started praying and we put our hands on him and just said in the name of Jesus, wake up. And he wakes up, looks at us dazed and confused.

Speaker 1: 16:52

I don't know if the impact of the car just put him in cardiac arrest for a moment, whether or not he was completely dying or not. I just know that there was just this moment that we had that God allowed for us to minister to somebody who's overlooked and who lives in this kind of personal tragedy in his life, and that he was definitely high and he was definitely loaded on something. The ambulance came and took him and you know they asked us what happened and we looked at him and said, well, this guy, you know he just rode across the road and police came and rode right into our car like he was trying to kill himself, which I think you know, I really think that's probably what happened and I want to tell you, I mean, that was an incredible moment. Well, long story short, he recovered and God saved his life. And you know, we could have stood back, we could have walked away in the midst of this.

Speaker 1: 18:11

But there's something that happens when you see something and you move towards it, god will give you the provision that you need to care for that person that's in front of you, that you need to care for that person that's in front of you. And so in this story, this priest sees this guy and walks away and he says you know, and he passes by on the other side. Can you imagine just walking away to somebody laying there, you know, half dead, and so, likewise then a Levite, somebody who keeps the law, long beard and you know very, you know religious, very formal, keeps the law, you know. He comes, he's taken the vow of being a Levite and he sees him and he sees his Jewish brother and he passes to the other side. He too, just goes on. But a Samaritan now comes on the road Now and it says that and he came to where he was, he walks over and he saw him and he has compassion on him.

Speaker 1: 19:36

I mean, what an incredible story, the cultural significance of how radical this act was and what Jesus is calling us to. You know, it would be like an African-American man in our past culture, in our story in America, in our past culture, in our story in America, who sees that the leader of—kind of the enemy of the Samaritan people. They treated the Samaritan like they were dogs. They were incredibly racial. The Jewish people were at the time. Samaritans weren't part of God's salvation. They were outside of the camp. They weren't even to be touched. It was a sin.

Speaker 1: 20:32

And imagine the closest thing I can think of would be like you know, the Good Samaritan, an African-American, saw a Ku Klux Klan guy in a ditch and he stopped for him and took care of him. Just imagine that. That's the courage that the Samaritan had to have towards the Jew in the ditch. He had compassion on him and he didn't just say, oh, I'm so sorry that you go through there. He went and he bound up his wounds, he poured on oil and wine. Then he sent him on his own animal and walked evidently and brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave it to the innkeeper saying take care of him and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. Just an incredible heart that this guy has. Just an incredible heart that this guy has. We went out of the way to minister to somebody you would never minister to.

Speaker 1: 22:00

So who's the people group that when you see them, you kind of go like this and there's a lot of heat right now. There's a lot of you now there's a lot of political fighting and things. And you know, it's interesting, no matter how people frame it politically with their own narrative, is that the Jewish people in Israel have been consistently demonized and attacked. And you know, just think about all the things that happened. And it occurred to me this week is I started thinking about all this stuff that's happening in Israel, you know, and Jesus even says he who does this to the least of them does it to me. You know, he said I was naked, I was tired, I was hungry, and when we see you like this, and Jesus said when you groups that we have nothing in common with, like a Samaritan compared to a Jewish man, this isn't at all a slam on the Jewish nation in this story, on the Jewish nation in this story.

Speaker 1: 23:24

But the truth of the matter, jesus was telling this story because, from that day to this, one of the ways that Scripture even speaks about this in Hebrews that God is going to use the Gentile nation, if you want to use the word, the group of Samaritans, those who were outside the nation of Israel, to come in and take care of Israel and to pray for them and to bless them and to bind their wounds and do all those kind of things. And that's God's heart that we're supposed to have. We're supposed to have it towards Israel, but we're supposed to have it to those people, groups, and God brings our way that we go. Man, I don't want to be a part of this. And so then Jesus asks this question which of these three do you think provided proved to be a neighbor to the men who fell among the robbers? You think he's going to ask that question of all of us one day. He's going to watch how we live our lives and who's touchable, untouchable. You might have people in your family that are politically different and they're like the Jew in the ditch. You're just like, nope, I had nothing to do with you. You might say, well, I can't go on vacation with that person. I don't trust them.

Speaker 1: 25:00

We've been talking about how bitterness is destroying families. Well, bitterness is the fruit of the devil and it's throughout the world and it's everywhere because it wants to consume you and me and get to our hearts towards other people, and then get to our children, because when the devil gets our kids and fills them with bitterness, the generational sin of bitterness to keep going on and on and on. But that is not what God wants. And so the one the Bible says here, who showed him mercy and Jesus said then go and do likewise. You imagine this lawyer who's trying to catch him in something, lawyer who's trying to catch him in something. And I remember, you know this was actually years ago. I've actually preached this message a number of times. It seems kind of around.

Speaker 1: 25:58

What's happening in the Middle East and the Middle East right now is just. It won't take much for it to go to turn into an all-out war. There's such unbelievable hatred for Israel by nations. It's always been. It started as a birthright issue, yeah, but as I was praying, you know, many years ago, I was thinking about our country. You might be outside of the country right now, so just kind of bear with me.

Speaker 1: 26:32

And I remember a scene I saw in a documentary of Eisenhower, when Germany got defeated, found out, when they found out, exactly what was happening to the Jewish people. Look on his face. I remember seeing this years ago, the utter horror and the utter shock of a people group led by a wicked man, adolf Hitler tried to eradicate the people that God called his people from the face of the earth. And the horror of his face, his generals. They had no idea what was really happening. And during all that time, the people of Germany that were located near those areas. They had to look away. They had to look away at the story, they had to look away to the Jew in the ditch. They had to look away from that.

Speaker 1: 28:03

And yet Christ has called us to love in ways. And I wonder and this is just big Ed talking here and you can judge this for yourself that one of the reasons why God allowed us to form this republic in America was so that he would use us for the sake of his people. I think so. I think God's positioned you and I. And could it be that the Good Samaritan was really that moment in our history, one of our finest moments of defeating, you know, just Nazi Germany. Standing up against him and his plans to eradicate the Jewish people in the world would seem like a much bigger goal than his conquest of other countries. So he was a wicked, evil tyrant, and yet we got to stand up for those who are overlooked. I think that's one of the most profound and powerful places for a follower of Jesus to be, and it's going on in your neighborhood, it's going on in your city, it's going on everywhere, and I think God's you know he brings these things up and lets us see these things.

Speaker 1: 29:50

And we have a very contentious election right now. There's a lot on the line. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, but I'm going to call you to prayerfully. I did a video a week ago about how to, as a Christian, to look at this election and make a righteous choice. Make a choice that would be most in line with the values and principles of what God wants us to do as a people and you know God is, you know, wants our hearts in such a way that we don't walk by somebody that he's leading us to walk over and love, even if they stink, even if they're bizarre, even if they're Democrats or Republicans, or left, far left, far right. All those monikers, by the way, when you take an identity in, part of your identity is your political party. Identity is your political party. That's a wicked identity.

Speaker 1: 31:20

See, I believe that God formed government to be in service to the church of Jesus and to the family, that the church ministers to God set up family, the church and then government, and that civil authority and laws is really important. That's why we need to vote. But it's not our safety, it's not our life, it's not our prosperity. And it's great when you have great leaders who know how to build things. But we've had a lot of Yehus throughout our history in our country, and yet we're still here. Christ is still King and he still reigns. And the way he reigns best is when you and I, his followers, give our lives to paying attention who's in a ditch and we move towards them.

Speaker 1: 32:11

Well, that's all I have to share tonight. I want to pray right now. I told you about pray for Israel. Would you pray with me, father? I just am so grateful, lord, for the love and the grace that you have given all of us as your followers. Thank you so much for the truth that's in your scripture and the example of what it really means to be a good Samaritan. A good Samaritan, jesus. You told that story to a man who justified his life through the law, but he didn't have your heart. And so, father, I pray right now for Israel, for your word says pray for the peace of Israel.

Speaker 1: 33:04

And, father, I pray that every missile that's shot would miss its target and, lord, that you would deal, in the way you want, to deal with just the wickedness of Iran and its proxy fighters, lord, that are waging a war, starting a war. I pray, lord, also for the Palestinian people, the true Palestinian people that I know a bunch of them here. They're amazing, not those who have given their life to terror, but, lord, I pray for them as well, that you would—. It's interesting, lord, that all of the Arab nations have lived in great anger, hatred and bigotry against the Palestinian people. When they come in and rule the Palestinian lands, it's terror that they sow in to all their cultures. And so, lord, I pray that you would deal with this wickedness, that you would, in your way, for the sake of the true Palestinian people who want to just have a place to worship, Lord, and I pray that you would push back this wickedness that's happening and you would protect Israel, you would give wisdom to the leadership Ben Netanyahu what an incredible leader you've given there and all these years, lord and their form of government, and that you would give them wisdom and that, lord, america, we would lift their arms up and we would continue to do what Eisenhower and his generals did when they saw what Germany ultimately did.

Speaker 1: 35:16

Father, I pray this just for your mercy. I pray, lord, that you would keep us out of another world war and world battle. I pray, Lord, that your truth would come and that you would keep us out of another world war and world battle. I pray, lord, that your truth would come and that you would wake up your believers and those of us who love Jesus, even in our own country, the persecution, the craziness that's happening even against followers of Jesus, every single day. That, father, you promised that we'd be blessed when we're persecuted.

Speaker 1: 35:48

And, Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters who are in harm's way, who are being marginalized right now in our country, and I pray, lord, that you would use this election, lord, to put in place the person that you want there and that you would expose any cheating, you would expose any wickedness that's trying to draw away our children into licentious lifestyles. And I pray, lord, that you would also protect the lives of the unborn yet, those who you saw in the apple of your eye, lord, when you created the earth. So, father, we come to you tonight. We ask you for mercy. I ask you for protection for Israel and for the Jewish people and the synagogues in the places here in America where anti-Semitism has risen up, and by foolish college children who are children. They're not men and women, they're just children who are filled with rage. They're just children who are filled with rage and that could be because of the rage towards their own dads and their families. It's now turned into just trying to obliterate everything. So, father, I pray that you would speak. I pray you would protect the lives of all the candidates running. You know, protect Kamala, protect Donald Trump senators.

Speaker 1: 37:27

I pray for Trump's family that you would protect them and keep Lord just a wisdom of the Secret Service to keep his children safe, lord, from the wicked plans of the enemy, and expose Lord all the things that are happening right now, the things in darkness. Let the light come, father, in the name of Jesus. Let the light come in the name of Jesus and show us how we can be light tomorrow. And all God's people said Amen. God bless you. Thanks for showing up tonight. And all God's people said amen. God bless you. Thanks for showing up tonight. Sorry, I called an audible tonight and just felt heavy in my heart. Based on the news reports coming out of Israel right now. I don't know, can you imagine having 300 rockets shot over your neighborhood every night? It's crazy. That's what bitterness does. That's what hatred does. But we're not people of bitterness, we're people of great promise. We're sons and daughters. We are a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood, men and women who are loved by God. Lord bless you.

Speaker 1: 38:54

If you are new to our broadcast or channel, we'd love to—we have a few things I see he's going to throw them up now, but things that maybe that you, if you need a free book, there's one right there the difference the father makes, which I just I'd have to announce this. It's crazy. We are now in over 220 countries with our downloads. I mean it's just about every country in the world. Somebody has downloaded my book as free and we're able to do that because of your generosity to us to help us keep this book going out there and it's touching men. The issue now that we have is how do I effectively coach these guys around the world? Yes, in Egypt and Samaria, palestine and Israel and, you know, just all over in Iceland and Newfoundland. Newfoundland, I guess, is a big dog with a big thing all over and I'm just so grateful that God is spreading this message.

Speaker 1: 40:11

But your support, you know every month if you're a monthly donor. If you're not, it'd really help us. If you helped us out and did that. That would help us. And we have programs to help you as a father, as a husband, as a man, become the best father. We've got a free devotional and hey, too many commercials, don't want to throw too many things at you, but go to our website at thefatherdifferencecom and we're here to help you build the family and have the life that God wants for you. The Lord bless you and we're going to—coming up here, that was the slide that we're going to finish Chapter 4, coming up Dad's Unplugged. It's going to be next week. Looking forward to that. Lord bless you, amen. Thanks for being here.