If
you are confused after hearing the gospel, you're not alone! The same
teacher who tells his disciples to go out into the world and preach
the Good News. . .the same teacher who heals Gentiles in the presence
of those disciples; talks to an unclean Samaritan woman and fusses at
his disciples who tell him not to; and even eats with tax collectors
and prostitutes over the objections of his disciples. . .the same
teacher who sets himself the task of breaking just about every purity
law on the books and earns for himself a reputation as a dangerous
heretic and madman. . .this same teacher is now
sending those same disciples out as apostles to proclaim the coming
of the Kingdom, saying to them before they go, “Do not go into
pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.” After violating so many Jewish
taboos, why is Jesus suddenly so squeamish about his apostles
preaching to pagans and Samaritans? Jewish officialdom has rejected
him, so why waste time and energy preaching to those who have heard
the Good News and said, “No, thanks”? God promised the Messiah to
the Jews. And so, to the lost sheep of Israel are the apostles sent.
How
do we reconcile Jesus' words and deeds during his public ministry
with his parting orders to the newly minted apostles? The Lord knows
something that his apostles do not: the apostolic ministry to
preach the Good News will not end when the last of them dies. In
fact, their preaching ministry as apostles won't truly commence until
the Holy Spirit arrives and sets the whole bunch of them on fire!
Given the Lord's inclusive words and deeds in their presence; then,
his instructions to limit themselves to the Jews; and then,
the Holy Spirit's inspiration to set the whole world on fire with his
Word. . .we can safely assume that Jesus isn't limiting their
ministry, he's concentrating it; that is, with a truly daunting task
ahead of them – evangelizing every living creature – the Lord
focuses his apostles on a workable task: just preach to the Jews.
If we think about this for a moment, it makes perfect sense. Who is
better prepared to hear that the promises made by God through His
prophets have been fulfilled in the coming of Christ Jesus?
Hosea
sets the scene for us. The nation God gave to His people is decadent,
luxurious, ripe to the point of being rotten. The more it prospers
under His blessing, the more it turns away from Him to idolatry,
erecting altars and pillars to alien gods. They blame their spiritual
adultery on political turmoil, and Hosea asks, “Since they do not
fear the Lord, what can the king do for them?” Then his prophesies,
“Sow for yourselves justice. . .break up for yourselves a new
field, for it is time to seek the Lord.” And it is time for those
who belong to the Lord to seek His lost sheep; thus, Jesus sends his
apostles to those who are in most urgent need of the Good News, those
who know the Covenant of Abraham yet live as if Abraham never spoke
to God. Peter, James, John go to the lost sheep of Israel and along
the way they find more and more lost sheep needing a shepherd. The
Holy Spirit will not let them leave these abandoned, so the Word –
like a wild fire – spreads. And the people of God, those adopted as
His children, grows and grows, beyond the lost sheep, into a nation
of priests and prophets, a body of apostles sent out to find and
rescue the lost, the wounded, those thrown away, anyone who desires
to be loved as a creature created in the image of God. Go out, then,
and show the world that no one is too small, too poor, too
idolatrous, too sinful to be called unworthy of the Father's saving
mercy!
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