And St. John Chrysostom said thisThis passage does not contradict the command which He gave afterwards, Go and teach all nations; for this was before His resurrection , that was after. And it was necessary the coming of Christ to be preached to the Jews first, that they might not have any just plea, or say that they were rejected of the Lord, who sent the Apostles to the Gentiles and Samaritans.
Also that they should not suppose that they were hated of Christ because they bad reviled Him, and branded Him as demoniac, lie sought first their cure, and withholding His disciples from all other nations, lie sent this people physicians and teachers; and not only forbid them to preach to any others before the Jews, but would not. that they should so much as approach the way that led to the Gentiles; Go not into the way of the Gentiles. And because the Samaritans, though more readily disposed to be converted to the faith, were yet at. enmity with the Jews, He would not suffer the Samaritans to be preached to before the Jews.
- But as many as feared God, and were anxious about His law, these ran to Christ, and were all saved. For He said to His disciples: “Go to the sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:6 which have perished.” And many more Samaritans, it is said, when the Lord had tarried among them, two days, “believed because of His words, and said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of your saying, for we ourselves have heard [Him], and know that this man is truly the Saviour of the world.” John 4:41 And Paul likewise declares, “And so all Israel shall be saved;” Romans 11:26 but he has also said, that the law was our pedagogue [to bring us] to Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:24 Let them not therefore ascribe to the law the unbelief of certain [among them]. For the law never hindered them from believing in the Son of God; nay, but it even exhorted them Numbers 21:8 so to do, saying that men can be saved in no other way from the old wound of the serpent than by believing in Him who, in the likeness of sinful flesh, is lifted up from the earth upon the tree of martyrdom, and draws all things to Himself, John 12:32, John 3:14 and vivifies the dead.
They are ignoring that the New Covenant was to go FIRST to the Jews AND THEN to the Gentiles.In Matthew 10 and 15, Jesus says he caome to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Some messianic Jews use this scrpitures to prove the New Israel and the call of the gentiles are false. What is the meaning of these verses?
…More comments?
Have we answered your question adequately?More comments?
What did Christ mean by saying that?Have we answered your question adequately?
Well, first of all, Matthew is written to the Jews with the intent to convert the Jews. One of the numerous prophecies of the OT regarding the Messiah was that He would restore Israel. This has to be done by Jesus in order to convince the Jews that He is the Messiah. So this is Matthew’s mission in writing the Gospel. Here’s something I worked up on this topic in our adult class at Church.What did Christ mean by saying that?
The narrative section of Matthew’s second book ends with Matthew evoking one of the most profound Old Testament images, that of the Shepherd of Israel. Matthew has already signaled in chapter 2, 6 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel’.
But in the final verses of Chapter 9, as Jesus prepares to call and commission His twelve Apostles, Matthew uses this image to make a subtle, yet all-important identification of Jesus and he uses the Old Testament to bring it out. In the context of Jesus’ healings and teachings, Matthew appears to be evoking the famous prophesy against the shepherds in Ezekiel 34. Through the prophet, God castigates the false shepherds of Israel for failing to tend the people. ***6 Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep? ***He faults them for not strengthening the weak or healing the sick or bringing back the strayed and the lost. Instead, God says of the false shepherds, “You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost, but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.” (6).
As a result, the prophecy continued, “My sheep were scattered and wandered over all the mountains and high hills; my sheep were scattered over the whole earth, with no one to look after them or to search for them."(5-6). But God Himself promises to come against the shepherds and to save His sheep: “10 Thus says the Lord GOD: I swear I am coming against these shepherds. I will claim my sheep from them and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep so that they may no longer pasture themselves… 11 I myself will look after and tend my sheep… 13 I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the foreign lands; I will bring them back to their own country… 16 The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal”.
Of course, this sounds a lot like what Jesus has been doing. But if you finish Ezekiel’s vision, you discover that God promises to appoint one shepherd over all of Israel – 22 I will save my sheep so that they may no longer be despoiled, and I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will appoint one shepherd over them to pasture them, my servant David; he shall pasture them and be their shepherd.
With this new shepherd, this Messiah in the line of David, God vows, 25 I will make a covenant of peace with them, and rid the country of ravenous beasts… God, of course, is vowing to do this for the lost sheep of Israel.
This new covenant is to be made when a new Shepherd comes. This new Shepherd is none other than the Lord Himself, but He is also a new David. These are all themes that Matthew has already announced through his use of Old Testament imagery and echoes. And here he is showing us that Jesus is the divine Shepherd, gathering the lost flock of Israel into a new Kingdom over which He will rule as the Davidic King.