Why Jesus Told His Disciples: Don't Go to 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 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, let's get right back into the book, and while you're looking for Matthew chapter 10, I once again like to let our television audience know that this afternoon during these four programs, I've got all my kids and my grandkids here with us, and that may never happen again. In fact, I just doubt if it ever would. But anyway, if the camera will just take a quick pan across them, we've got Greg, my oldest son, and his wife Jeanette, and then Jerry, and Laura, my daughter, and my son-in-law, and their two kids Tara and Zach, and then way at the back is my youngest Todd, and his wife Kimberly, and their two little babies. They're presently living out in Washington State at Pullman. So anyway, I just thank the Lord for them, they're all support in the ministry, and I'm just tickled that at least my older grandkids, whenever they talk about what they wish for the future, they always qualify it if the Lord doesn't come. So I just feel they're well taught, because that is the way we have to look at things today. We will do such and such if the Lord tarries. So anyway, we're glad to have the kids with us, and for those of you on television, always remember that all these programs are available on videotape. We can make the audio cassettes if you wish them. We're getting them in print little by little, so you write to us or call us if you're interested. Now let's continue then on our study of Christ's earthly ministry, and I'm going to take you all the way on this program to Matthew chapter 10. And again it's a subject that I know has raised a lot of eyebrows, and it has caused a lot of questions, because after all, why? Well we're going to hopefully answer. So in Matthew chapter 10, the Lord has just called the twelve disciples in the first four verses, and now you come to verse 5. Matthew 10. These twelve Jesus sent forth, now remember this is at the beginning of His earthly ministry. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and if you haven't underlined it, underline it or at least mark it in your computer up here. He doesn't suggest this, He commands it. Now He's the Lord of Glory, and when He commands, you can't get any higher authority than that. And so He commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and in any city of the Samaritans enter you not. Now the Samaritans at this point in time were half-breed Jews. They had lost their pure character as Jews, and consequently were looked down upon and detested by the pure Jew. Now of course Jesus will later in His ministry still go to the city of Samaria, but for now Jesus is qualifying that they go not to a Gentile, not to a Samaritan, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now I see a lot of people say, Why? They say, My I thought He came into the world to save sinners. Well you see that's what I'm trying to show you. Yes that's what Paul says, but in the beginning of His earthly ministry now, He is approaching only what people? The Jew. And why is He confining it to the Jew? This is covenant ground. Remember I had it on the board, and I'll put it on again until you see it in your sleep. The Abrahamic covenant was that out of Abraham would come a nation of people whom God would put in a geographical area of land, and then one day He would come and set up the government in the person of the King, but He would also have to be their Redeemer. There had to be a solution to the sin problem. And so all the way up through the Old Testament you have these parallel lines of prophecy. The coming of a King and a Kingdom, but also the coming of a suffering Savior. Now I would like to put it this way. The Jews of Jesus' day, they wanted the King and the Kingdom, didn't they? Oh they wanted those horrible Romans thrown out. But they didn't want to deal with the sin problem. See that got too close to home. And so here was their whole problem. But nevertheless, what you have to understand is that the reason Jesus said what He said, He had come to fulfill the covenant, and I said He was coming to fulfill the covenants. That's why He says what He says. He did not come except to fulfill these covenants, which all rested on the Abrahamic covenant, and that included no one but Jews. Now that's hard for people to swallow, I know. In fact I guess if I were to put a title on my approach to Christ's earthly ministry, rather than be guilty of plagiarism, I'll give the credit. You know Robert Frost wrote a poem called, The Road Less Traveled. There's a book on psychiatry by a gentleman whose name is Dr. Peck, and maybe you've read that one. Again the title is, The Road Less Traveled, and that's the way I would title my approach to Christ's earthly ministry, The Road Less Traveled. Now I'm not alone. Don't think for one minute I'm just some kook out here all by myself. There are a lot of people who certainly ascribe to this same approach, but we're certainly in the minority. The majority I said a while back, they think that as soon as you get into Matthew you're in Christianity, you're in church ground, and nothing could be further from the truth. This is Law, this is Jewish, and Christ came to His own. And until His own receive Him not, we're going to have to deal with it as under the covenant promises. Now let's skip over to Matthew chapter 15, and now we'll drop down to verse 21. I'm always reminded of someone I heard years ago, I was riding in my pickup, had the radio on, and I imagine it was a preacher someplace in this United States, and he was preaching on this text. And I'll never forget, I was so shocked when I heard the man say it. He said, you know you've got to remember that Jesus had just begun His earthly ministry, and as yet He didn't realize the real purpose of His coming. And he was still bigoted, and he thought that he had to confine his ministry only to the Jew. And I thought, oh you poor man, how can people be so blind? He wasn't bigoted, he knew what he was doing, far more than most theologians do today. Now look in chapter 15, and we have almost the same situation. Verse 21, and then Jesus went hence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and they cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O LORD, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with a demon. Verse 23, "...but he answered her not a word." What does that mean? He ignored her. He totally ignored her. Now read on, "...and his disciples came, and they besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us." What are the disciples saying? They are saying, Lord get rid of her, she's just a pest, she's a nuisance, she had evidently been following Him for maybe a day or two, and the disciples said, Lord get rid of her, we don't need something like that tagging along. Now remember, the disciples had already been in Christ's presence for some time, and they too understood that she was a Gentile, and that they had nothing to do with her. Now if you will come on to the next verse, and she now says, verse 24, "...but he answered and said, I am not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Plain language? You can't get it any plainer. And Jesus Himself said it. He said, I am not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Why? Covenants. There were no Gentiles in those covenants. It was Jew only. And so this Gentile woman was almost presuming upon something that she had no right to presume. Now where she made her most costly mistake was up there in verse 22 when she addressed Him as, "...thou son of David." Now that really qualified who He was, and where she was coming from. She couldn't address Him as, "...thou son of David." That was a Jewish term. She's Gentile. Now you know the account. Verse 25. She comes back, and now she drops that son of David part, and addresses Him as, "...Lord." Now that brings her a little closer. So now she says, "...Lord, help me." He answered verse 26, and said, "...it is not meet, it's not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs." Who are the children? The Jews. Who were the dogs of Christ's day? Gentiles. So put it in that light. Now look lady, it's not right for me to take this which belongs to the Jew, and give it to a Gentile. It won't work. But she doesn't give up. So she comes back, and I like her application, and she said, "...truth Lord, yet the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." I used to have a little house dog that would sit right beside me when I ate, and I bet most of you do too. My wife just never could condescend to that, and I said, "...but honey, it's so Scriptural." Because way back in Jesus time, the dog was there waiting for a crumb to fall, but of course the analogy was, that how in the world can you take that which belonged to the family of Israel, and give it to a Gentile? Just wouldn't work. But she comes back, and she says, "...truth Lord, yet the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Now I didn't realize until I was brushing over some of these things in preparation for today, that the word woman as it's used here, and as Jesus addressed Mary, was not as we would think of it today as more or less a degrading term. In other words you wouldn't call somebody woman if you respected her, but in the Greek it was a term of respect. So when Jesus referred to her as woman, He was not putting her down, He was respecting her person, and He says, "...woman, great is thy faith." Now in contrast to the Jew, can you see that it was? The Jew couldn't condescend to acknowledging that this Nazarene was the son of David, but this Canaanite woman did. Now I'm going to make a point. This is only one of two Gentiles that Jesus ministers to in His whole earthly ministry. Only two. This Canaanite woman, and a Roman centurion. Other than that, there is no account that He had anything to do with Gentiles. Now to prove my point, go with me to John's Gospel, chapter 12. This of course is just before His crucifixion. He's come through His whole three years of earthly ministry, trying to convince the Jew that He was the Christ, knowing full well what Israel was going to do, knowing full well that He was going to go to that Roman cross, and that He would suffer for the sins of the world. He knew that. Now in John's Gospel, chapter 12, the crowds are already gathering from all over the then known world for the Feast of Passover. John's Gospel Verse 20. John's Gospel And there were certain Greeks, Gentiles, among them that came up to worship at the feast. Now it doesn't necessarily mean that they came to worship, but just like when we were in Jerusalem on the Sabbath morning, our guide took us down to the Wailing Wall, and we like tourists, took our cameras and our gok, and we watched these Jews going through their worship at the Wailing Wall out of curiosity. I think the same thing here. I think Gentiles would mingle amongst these Jewish crowds, more or less to witness what was going on amongst these worshiping Jews. It was probably quite a phenomenon. But whatever. There were Greeks among those that came up to worship at the feast. These Greeks came therefore to Philip, who was of Bethsaida, and they desired him, saying, would see Jesus. They had probably heard of all of his miracles, and the things he had done, and we would like to see this man. Now Philip remembering only too well what had happened back there in chapter 10, and what had happened in chapter 15, he knows he can't just bring a group of Gentiles into Christ's presence. But he doesn't want to totally take the responsibility for not doing it alone, so who does he go to? It's Andrew. Next verse. And so Philip tells Andrew, that there are Greeks that want to see Jesus. What are we going to do? Can't you just picture it? Boy he was in a dilemma. He's never had anything to do with Gentiles before, and no doubt Andrew said, let's go away. So next verse, Philip comes and tells Andrew, and Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. Now remember what they tell him, that there are Greeks that want to see Him. Now look at Jesus' answer. It certainly wasn't, take Me to them. It certainly wasn't, bring them to Me. instead he explains why he could not deal with Gentiles up to this point in time. And here's the reason. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, it's upon us. Now remember this is just before the crucifixion. They're already gathering for the Passover. The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified, which of course took place at the time of his death, burial, and resurrection. Verily I say unto you, except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground, and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Now we understand that before a seed can germinate, it has to be taken out of its container, and it has to be placed into the ground where it can receive moisture and sunlight. And then before that seed can sprout new life, what has to happen to it? It dies. That seed, for all practical purposes, dies. Out of the death of that seed then comes new life, and like Jesus said then, a hundredfold. Picture a kernel of wheat, one kernel, it's buried. I know some may germinate laying on top of the ground, but a good farmer won't just throw his seed on top of the ground, he'll plant it. And when you plant something, you bury it. And Paul uses that analogy in Romans chapter 6, that unless we have been planted in the likeness of His death, what does it mean? Unless we've been buried with Him, we cannot have new life. There has to be that experience of death before you can have new life. This is what Jesus is explaining, that up until His death, burial and resurrection, He could not be the true object of faith to a Gentile. He was on covenant ground, and on covenant ground He had the deal only with the Jew. Now let me show you a verse in Paul, Ephesians chapter 6, and this shocks people. That's why I like to teach, I like to see people see what the Book says, and then see their look of surprise. Now here's another one, Ephesians chapter 2, verses 11-12, and you don't need a theological degree to understand it, it's plain English, just as plain as it can get, and yet I wonder how many people even know these verses are in their Bible. And that's why I have to use it when I point out that Jesus did not deal with Gentiles. Now look at it, Ephesians 2, verse 11, and remember now Paul is writing to Gentile believers. Ephesus was a city of the Gentile church, and to these Gentile believers he says, Ephesians 2, verse 11. Now to qualify that, who were the circumcision? The Jews. What did they call Gentiles? Uncircumcised dogs a lot of the time. So Paul is referring to that. You Gentiles who were referred to as uncircumcised by the Jew, that at that time, while God was dealing with His covenant people, the Jew, including Christ's earthly ministry, that at that time you Gentiles were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in this world. I didn't write that, Paul under the inspiration of the Spirit wrote it, and he said that you Gentiles were not in the covenant promises, you were not citizens of the nation of Israel, and so while God was dealing with Israel on the basis of the covenants which would be from Genesis 12 until I maintain Acts chapter 9, where was the Gentile? Outside. And that's why Jesus did not take these Greeks, because He could not be the object of their faith until He had died the death of the cross, been buried, and risen from the dead. Now it's interesting in that same light, you all know the story of Jonah. Remember God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. What kind of a city was Nineveh? Gentile. Now Jonah was of the same mindset that Peter was in Acts chapter 10 when the Lord told him to go to Cornelius. Did Jonah want to go to Nineveh? Well you know he didn't. In fact he was so adamant against going to Nineveh, which was a little to the east and then up to the north from Jerusalem, he takes a ship and tries to go west out on the Mediterranean. Now you know the story of Jonah. They throw him overboard, because they know he's the cause of all their trouble. But in the process of him being thrown overboard, a great fish takes Jonah, about like an Oklahoma bass would take a minnow. And Jesus refers to the account of Jonah Himself, so we know it's true. But in type now, in picture, what happened to Jonah when the great fish swallowed him? For all practical purposes he died. How long was he in the belly of the fish? Three days and three nights. In fact Jesus made that same allusion, as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish, so also shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. After the three days and three nights, what did the fish do with Jonah? Pitched him back up on shore, brought him back to life for all practical purposes. In type, a resurrection. Now then, after experiencing death, burial, and a resurrection, now where can Jonah go? To the Gentiles. And that's where he went. And what happened? Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes. But see Jonah was not a fit servant until he had fulfilled the type. So that's what Jesus is saying, that until he had experienced death, burial, and resurrection, he could not be the object of faith for the mass of the Gentile world. But he has. And so now then, are you still in Ephesians chapter 2? Now look at verse 13. See we don't want to leave you with verse 12, that's hopeless. Oh, look at the next verse. But I've told my classes for twenty years, that little three letter word is one of the most important words in Scripture. Paul doesn't leave us without hope, without God in this world. But, the flip side now is that in Christ Jesus, you who were sometime far off as Gentiles were then, are made nigh, that is to God, not by the Law, not by the covenants, but by the blood of Christ, the finished work of the cross. Now I don't know how I can make it any plainer that this is why the Jew was under the covenant promises, and the Gentile had no part in it. But when Israel refused it, and rejected it, God set them aside temporarily, and He turns to the Gentile in grace. Remember in the last program we pointed out the difference between Law and Grace? Now then in grace, based upon this death, burial, and resurrection, God now can impart salvation to the whole human race. He doesn't confine it to the Jew, He doesn't confine it to the Gentile, but it goes to all. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, 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.