""If they just knew Josh!" his mother, Diana White, exclaimed between sobs. "He just made a mistake. Everybody plays on the job, even cops. But with this one, it caught up. He's going to pay for it for the rest of his life." " ???
My reasoning on what Jesus said is that the JEWS were the chosen people, the ones to take God's message to the world, and Jesus was the cuminateing (sp?) figure.
IF the Jews had accepted Him as Savior (more than what did), then possibly Paul would not have been needed as an envoy to the Gentiles. (Hard to say what MIGHT have happened.)
"My reasoning on what Jesus said is that the JEWS were the chosen people, the ones to take God's message to the world, and Jesus was the cuminateing (sp?) figure.
IF the Jews had accepted Him as Savior (more than what did), then possibly Paul would not have been needed as an envoy to the Gentiles. (Hard to say what MIGHT have happened.)"
Oops! I guess I forgot to copy your words into the clipboard. Oh well.
It's interesting that the mission to the Gentiles really doesn't come into play until Acts. One can find some reference to saving all people in the Gospels, but you're more likely to find Jesus saying that he is there for the Jews.
Somewhere along the line, something changed, and it started, really, with Paul and his vision. Now you're getting into tough areas, and areas that are the causes of a lot of difficulty for the beginnings of the Universal Church. Several heresies developed over some of these apparent conflics. On the other hand, most Christians now accept that Jesus always meant to save the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
I can't begin to discuss all of this here, and won't. It would take a lot of digging into my reference books, and I just don't have the time. It's an interesting study, but an advanced one. I'm not really sure I understand all the details, myself.
However, you've discovered one of the reasons that Paul's letters have become so important to Christianity...Paul represents an affirmation of salvation for Gentiles. It's also why detailed study of the Gospels isn't high on the list for many pastors. It's a lot easier to move from the basics of the Gospels directly through to Paul. It avoids a lot of difficult questions.