Why Did Jesus Refuse to Help the Gentiles?

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, an Oklahoma rancher and farmer. Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for over 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to see everybody again. I trust you had a cup of coffee, and let's see, my wife didn't make cookies this time, did you? Hey, she made some Texas sheet cake. Did you all have some? Yeah, yeah, it's kind of hard on your calorie counters. But anyway, again we like to welcome all our television folks wherever you are, and we always like to let it be known that we're just an informal Bible study. We don't intend to preach at anybody, we don't twist any arms, and we just like to get folk into the Word. 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Okay, we're here to study the Bible, let's go back to Ephesians chapter 2, and we're going to take a couple moments to just review shortly what we just covered in our last 30 minutes in verse 12, how that Paul points out so graphically that our Gentile forefathers before he was sent to the Gentiles, as we saw in our closing statement, that until then they were without hope, they were without God in this world, they were strangers to the covenants of promise, they were aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, and consequently God had no dealings with the Gentile unless it was one of those exceptions. I guess I should have even, yeah I think I will yet. I'm going to take you back to Matthew chapter 10, because this is a verse that has shocked a lot of people, and when folks have heard me teach it on television, and then they take it into their Sunday school class, and their Sunday school classes will look at them and say, where do you get this stuff? Well then all they have to say is, because it's what the Bible says, plain as day. Matthew chapter 10, and the Lord Jesus of Nazareth has just begun His earthly ministry, and in the opening verse of chapter 10 He's calling the twelve, and then of course they're named in verses 2, 3, and 4, but now look at verse 5. Now for most of you who've heard me teach over the years, this is all old hat, but you want to remember we got a lot of new listeners every day, and most of them have never seen this, but look what it says. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and He commanded them, now I always stop and say, He didn't just suggest, He didn't say, now look fellows maybe you'll have a little better luck if you do it this way. No it was a commandment, this is what you're going to do. And so He commanded them saying, "...go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans, who were half -breed, and consequently were looked down upon by the pure Jew, and in any city of the Samaritans enter you not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." See how plain that is? Just as plain as daylight from dark, don't you go to Gentiles, don't you bother with the Samaritans, you go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. At that time of course the Roman Empire was primarily located there in what we call today the Holy Land, that narrow strip of Canaan between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, and of course there were Jews scattered throughout the Christ's earthly ministry was confined to the nation of Israel. I always have to remind people, can you find one instance in Scripture where He took His ministry down into Egypt? No. Did He ever go up into Syria? Of course not. Did He go across the desert to Babylon? Of course not. And so where did He spend all His three years? Right in that narrow neck of geography between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, and no further. Neither did the twelve. They knew they couldn't because the commandment was to go only to the lost sheep of Israel. Why? Because of that covenant promise that we read in our last program in Genesis chapter 12, where God says, "...I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will through you bless all the nations of the world." Well only the nation of Israel was under that covenant promise, and He couldn't abrogate that. He couldn't break that covenant that He had made with the nation of Israel, and so this is why He makes this statement. Then of course the next one I would like so well in the same regard is Matthew chapter 15, where He's confronted by a Gentile lady out of the Cossus Tyre and Sidon, which was a Gentile enclave. Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan, a non -Jew, came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O LORD, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with a demon." Oh, what a perfect opportunity for Jesus to show His power. Wasn't it? Yes it was, but did He? No, not at first, and so what's the answer? Not a word. He ignores her. Now we find that hard to believe, but you better believe the Word, and the reason is again, He was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel. You all know the verse in John's Gospel, and we don't even have to look at it. He came unto His own, which was Israel, but His own received Him not. And then of course that opened the door for the Gentile, but in His earthly ministry, only His covenant people, only those who were citizens of the commonwealth of Israel, only those who knew what it was to have a Messiah, as we saw in Ephesians chapter 2. He answered her not a word, and His disciples, the same twelve that He commanded to go not into the way of a Gentile, to the same twelve they came, and they begged Him, saying, Send her away. We can't have anything to do with her, because you've commanded us not to. That's what it boils down to. Send her away. She's a nuisance, she's a pest. Every place we go, here she is, crying after us. And He answered and said in response to that kind of an attitude, perfect agreement, and He says, I am not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now most people don't know why He said that. He said that because He came to fulfill those Old Testament covenants, and He couldn't break that. And so being the God of creation, the One who wouldn't bend to pressure like most people would, He could tell it like it was. I am not sent, except to My covenant people, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Of course this lady kept on. I guess we can take a lesson from this. But she just kept on, and she said, Lord help me. And He answered again in so many words, as to say, I can't do anything for you. And what does He say in the Scripture? It is not proper to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. Now in Jewish parlance, who were the dogs? Well the uncircumcised Gentiles. So He said, I can't take that which belongs to My covenant people, the children of Israel, and give it to you Gentiles. I can't do it, because it was running contrary to the very mind of God when He made the covenant with Abraham. And so He couldn't. His hands were tied, but like He did back here when He sent Jonah to Nineveh, and He brought Rahab off the wall of Jericho, He could, being sovereign, make a what? An exception. But He couldn't make it a blanket act. It would have just simply destroyed the Scriptures. But He couldn't make an exception. And so He finally gives in. See when she comes back and says in verse 27, truth Lord, she agrees with Him. She said, I know I'm not in a position to sit at the table of the Gentiles, but yet the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. Now we commented on this verse, I think several programs back, and I made the allusion to Psalms 23. And what is in Psalms 23 with regard to a table? You have set a table before me. Well what was the table? Well it was God's table from which Israel feasted. It was a spiritual allegory, but nevertheless only Israel could feast at God's table. And the same analogy here, she says, I know I can't eat from Israel's table, but can't I have some of the crumbs that fall off the edge? And that of course got to the Lord, and He then says, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou will. And her daughter was made whole. The demon evidently was cast out at that very time. But that was one of the exceptions. There's only one other throughout his whole three years of ministry, and that was the Roman centurion, and he gave into that one. But in that you cannot find one instance in this Book that Jesus ministered to Gentiles. In fact while we're on that subject, I know I repeat and repeat and repeat, but I guess that's what most people enjoy and they're learning. Now you come on over to John's Gospel chapter 12, and we have much the same kind of a situation. Here it is, the crowds of Jews are gathering from all over the then known world, the Roman Empire, for the Feast of Passover. The very same Passover at which He's going to be crucified, and these are the days leading up to it. John's Gospel chapter 12, and there were certain Greeks, now that's still another word for Gentiles, and so there were certain Gentiles among them that came up to worship at the Feast, the Feast of Passover. Verse 21. The same, these Greeks, came therefore to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, in other words one of the twelve, and they desired him, or they asked him, saying, We would see Jesus. Now I always like to get people to kind of just stop and mull these things over. People are no different today than they were then, or put it the other way around, people were no different then than they are today. Now it was common knowledge, all the miracles that this Jesus of Nazareth was performing, and you know I always remind my class here in Oklahoma, I just did the other night, you know the ones that are recorded in Scripture are just the sampling. That's just a sampling. Goodness sakes, don't think for a minute that that's all of his miracles, because John ends his Gospel in the last verse, and what does he say? Many more. If they had all been recorded, the world couldn't even hold it. But here these Gentiles had no doubt been hearing about this man Jesus, and all of His miracles, and so they were curious, and they said, I would like to see this guy, we'd like to talk to him. And Andrew of course, remembering what the commandment has been, had second thoughts. Well I can't take them in to see Jesus, these are Gentiles. But on the other hand, nobody likes to take full responsibility for something like this, so he kind of passes the buck, and he goes to who? Andrew, next verse. And so Philip comes and tells Andrew, and can't you just read between the lines what went on? Philip says, Andrew, there are some Gentiles here, and they want to see Jesus. Now we know what he's going to tell them, but yet we can't take the responsibility and just simply shove them off to the side. But what are we going to do? And Andrew says, well let's go at least ask Him. And so Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. Well you have to read between the lines, what do they tell Him? There's Gentiles out there, and they want to talk to you. Now did Jesus say, bring them in? No. What does He do? He gives them the reason why they can't. It's that simple. Next verse, verse 23. And Jesus answered them and said, the hour is come. Now remember they're only a day or two before the crucifixion. And He says, the hour is come, it's upon us that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, and here comes the whole format of salvation for Gentiles. Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. What was He talking about? His own death, His burial, like planting the seed. And when the seed is in the ground, what does it do? It dies. And as a result of the death of that seed, new life. This is the whole format of salvation. That when Christ died and was buried and rose from the dead, that's when new life erupts. Now let me take you to Romans chapter 6. Somebody asked me at break where I was going next, and I said, I don't know. I never know until the camera starts. Romans 6, verse 5. And this ties so beautifully, at least in my mind, with what Jesus just said in John. For unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abideth alone. But if it die, it springs up and brings forth much fruit. Now look at the language Paul uses concerning our salvation. What's the next word? Planted. And what's that planting a reference to? Burial. See when we plant seed, what do we do with it? We bury it. Oh not 6 feet, but nevertheless we bury it. And as a result of that seed being buried, and the moisture and the warmth of the sun, what happens? New life. But if you've got a seed that can't die by germination, it's not going to reproduce. Alright, so Paul is using the same analogy that Jesus used in John chapter 12. And he says, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, in other words, if we've identified with His death and with His burial, then it's an assured fact that we can identify with His resurrection. See how beautiful it is? So if we've been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. And of course that's when He experienced the glorification. There wasn't anything glorious in that cross, anything but. It was awful. But when He rose from the dead in power and glory, and that's where we are. Oh to die to self, there's nothing glorious about that, but to rise in newness of life. Oh listen, the last few weeks we've had more phone calls, I just can't believe it, where they'll say, our whole life has changed, everything is different. I had one old boy, and he'll probably be listening to the program. He called and he said, Les, I'm 72 years old. I haven't darkened a church door since I was 9. Now subtract, how many years is that? My way of figuring, that's about 62-63 years. Hadn't darkened a church door. He said, I've never listened to anything on television, I have never opened my Bible. But I caught your program about three weeks ago, and God has literally changed my life. I had another one, two of them, one afternoon. I've shared it with you in Oklahoma. One fellow called from Pennsylvania, and he almost just exclaimed, You've changed my life. I said, I can't do it. Nobody said, the Lord used you. He opened up the Scriptures, and he said, now I just can't get enough of it. Well within an hour a lady in Georgia called, and I told my people in Oklahoma, gave me goosebumps, because you'd have swore they were both reading from the same script. Because she said, the same thing, you have just changed my life. And I won't tell you what group they came out of, but it was a group that is just about as hard as nuts to crack. And if you've ever dealt with them, you know what I'm talking about. But the Lord opened their heart, and that's what you have to experience. We have to die and experience resurrection power, and it is, it's glorious. I've never had anybody call and say, Les, I wish I'd have never listened to you. Never. Now write warm. See I've got one right here. Never has someone said, Oh I wish I'd never listened to you. But it's always, how God has just changed my life. You know I always put this in such a way that nobody but the folks themselves can know who I'm talking about. I did with Warren one time, he caught it, but nobody else ever did. Well there's another couple. Oh they were in the most horrible situation. And they wrote, and it was such a terrible situation, I didn't even know how to answer their letter. And I just let it lay there for 2 or 3 weeks, and I started feeling guilty, and I finally wrote to them and told them how to come out of their sin and their horrible situation. And we met them a year or so ago, and it was the same thing. How the Lord just totally changed their life, cleaned up the mess they were in, and they just can't get enough of this. Well that's what the new life does, and that's what makes it the glory of the power of His resurrection. Now while we're in Romans chapter 6, we might as well take the next verse, because this just builds on it. That if we've been planted, and we have experienced the lightness of His resurrection, then we know that our old man, or our old Adam, our old sin nature, is crucified with Him. Well what does crucifixion do? It kills, it puts to death. And so knowing that we've been crucified, that the body of old Adam might be put out of commission, is what destroyed means here, that henceforth we should not serve that old nature. And then He goes on to say that if we are now alive with Christ, then we should certainly be living for Him and for His glory. That's enough of that off the cuff, let's come back to Ephesians chapter 2. And again remembering now what He said, that we Gentiles, our forefathers were without hope, they were without God in the world, and now we're just going to be able to start verse 13, and we'll pick it up in the next half hour. But what's the first word of verse 13? But, and everybody from coast to coast now tells me, what? Flipside, flipside, oh up here on the top of the human, that's where we first got it. You know it was the record in the jukebox, I think that's where it first started, and you play that record and put in another nickel or whatever, and you could play the flipside. Well it's just simply another whole song. All right now the flipside, yes our forefathers were without hope, they were without God, but there's a flipside, and what is it? That now, right now in Christ Jesus, you who were at one time, back like in verse 12, you were at one time far off. Why doesn't that put it? Far off, how far off? So far that they were without God. They had no knowledge of Him, they had no access to Him, because they were Gentiles, they weren't Jews. But oh God didn't leave it that way. But now, you who were, are now made nigh, but not just by some decree, but by what? The blood of Christ. Now I haven't got time, only got 5 minutes left, but we'll start on it. The blood of Christ is what makes us nigh to God. Now let's go back a little further to the right to Hebrews chapter 8, verse 22. Those of you who've been on the program for all these years since Genesis, you remember we use this verse so often as one of the two basic absolutes of Scripture. This is an absolute. You know, we're living in a day, I've said it before in this program. Did I say 8? Chapter 9, I'm sorry. Chapter 9, the air is human. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 22. An absolute, and in our present society they try to tell us there are none. Oh yes there are. The Scriptures are absolute, and this is one of the primary ones. The last half of the verse, without the shedding of blood there is no remission. You can't get around that. You can't build a bridge over it, there's just nothing you can do but face it head on and say, all right, so without the shedding of blood there's no remission. What does all this mean? Well you know, I can't really explain the whole thing myself, but let's go back and look at it. We'll pick up there when we come into the next program. Come back to Exodus chapter 12. Those of you who have been with me all these years, you know immediately what's in Exodus chapter 12. Well the night of the Passover. Exodus 12 verse 13. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. And God tells Moses to tell Israel, when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. Now there was only one thing a Jewish family could do to avoid the death angel, and that was put the blood on the door. And when God saw the blood, the death angel passed over. Now there wasn't a whole rigmarole of rules and regulations, it was just one simple requirement. Place the blood of that Passover lamb on the door posts and on the lintel, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now I've always liked to ask my classes, when those Jews were behind that blood touched door, did they stand there in fear and trepidation? No. You know why? Because by faith they were eternally secure. to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported and your gift is appreciated. Thank you and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.