Accepting and Rejecting
Matt. 10:5-15
Why did Jesus tell his apostles not to go among the Gentiles?
Photo by Christian Lendl on Unsplash
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. - Matt. 10:5-15
According to several Christian sources you can find on the Internet, the people of Israel were a covenant priority.
Those are the people God has a covenant with, so they are the first to receive the message of salvation.
Jesus said something similar when he encountered the Syrophoenician woman who wanted him to help her daughter. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”
The lost sheep of Israel are his mission. Save them first. And, as he tells his apostles, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.”
He makes it clear that the covenant people need to be given a chance to welcome the news, and if they let it pass by, they will be doomed.
Later, the message will go out to the nonbelievers, the Gentiles. Then, the offering will be more of a take it or leave it situation. The nonbelievers will not be punished for rejecting Him, not like the believers.
So, where are we in all this?
We are believers, many of us from birth. We didn’t choose to be followers. Our parents chose for us. That is true for the older among us, but the younger generations were not told that they had to be Christians.
Many were given a choice, just like the Gentiles.
So, how does Jesus consider them? Are they like the Gentiles, not having a covenant with God? Or are they like the ones who reject God?
We could take an orthodox view and say that it was their parents who rejected God on their behalf, which Jesus would say is equivalent to placing a stumbling block before them. In that case, the parents are the ones who denied God for their children.
No one likes this orthodox view, preferring to see the choice they allowed for their children as just. It was a means of self-discovery.
I refrain from judgment here. For me, the message to the apostles to go and spread the good news with nothing to distract them or make them targets is similar to what young Christians are doing today on college campuses across the country.
For the most part, they are rejected by many, but also welcomed by many.
So, maybe this mission to go out and share the good news is not so much a recruiting process as an educational one. Let me share for you what it means to follow Christ. If you reject it, I would like to know why. What is you thinking?
Is that so threatening?
Apparently, it can be.
More to come...