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Commentaries
English
Matthew
  
3. THE METHODS OF SPREADING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
(MATTHEW 10:5 - 11:1) (The Second Collection of the Words of Jesus)

a) The Fundamental Principles of Preaching
(Matthew 10:5-15)
5These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.6But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew15:24; Mark6:7-13; Luke9:2-6; Acts13:46)


In the beginning of His ministry, Christ directed His twelve disciples not to go to the whole world, but to their own countrymen, for other nations were still not prepared for the preaching, and the Holy Spirit had not yet dwelt worldwide. Christ presented His kingdom to the lost Jews first, according to the promise of God to their fathers, and called them into true repentance and living hope.
Christ had a particular and tender concern for the house of Israel; they were “beloved for the sake of the fathers,” (Romans 11:28). He looked with compassion upon them as lost sheep, whom He, as a shepherd, had to gather out of the by-paths of sin and error, into which they were gone astray, and in which, if not brought back, they would wander endlessly.
The objector says that Matthew 10:5-6 mentions that Christ advised His twelve disciples to preach the lost sheep of he house of Israel. Matthew 15:24 mentions that He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”; though Christ said in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
We reply that the rule that Christ made for His apostles was to preach the house of Israel first that they might not err, thereafter preach the rest of the world. The Bible speaks, from beginning to end, that the people of the covenant should be looked after first and other nations next. It was proper that the children of Jacob should be given priority over others.