Replies

Diego,

You said, The land north was referred to as Samaria and still populated by paganized descendants of Babylonian refugees....the ancestors of Simon Magus. [Acts 8]

From this, I surmise that the Samaritans were, in fact, descendants of the 10 tribes of the former Northern Kingdom.

You then said, These ten tribes are who Our Saviour refers to when He speaks of the "Lost Sheep". You then cited, again, Matthew 10:6. You also cited Matthew 15:24.

Matthew 10:6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

You then state that Jesus gave Peter the charge to tend to those 'lost sheep' in John 21:15-17.

John 21:15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

John 21:16 A second time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."

John 21:17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

So let's take a look at this a bit. According to what you're saying, in the above references, including Matthew 10:6, is that Peter and the twelve were commanded to go to the ten lost tribes. What you said earlier, was that the Samaritans were, in fact, paganized members of those ten lost tribes.

So if the above two are the case, and you said that they are, then why would Jesus say what He did in Matthew 10:5?

Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans"

It seems that since Samaria was still populated by paganized descendants of Babylonian refugees (known as Samaritans, that it would be perfectly logical for Jesus to tell the 12 to go to the Samaritans, since they were to go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mt 10:6).

In the account in Matthew 15:24, Jesus is speaking to a Canaanite woman (a gentile). According to this and the parallel account in Mark chapter 7 (at least I assume it was parallel, in Mark, it says she was a a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation), her wish was eventually rewarded. According to both accounts, Jesus was in the vicinity of Tyre, in Syria. In other words, He was not even in Israel (Judea, Samaria, Galilee).

Interesting what was said in the Mark account, though. In verse 27 of this account, Jesus said, And he said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." What I find interesting here is that He says that the dogs will be fed...just not yet (at that time).

If you take a look at another account where Jesus healed a gentile, you will see another interesting thing:

Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.
Mat 8:11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
Mat 8:12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."

So in both these accounts, Jesus is stating that all WILL be able to be saved.

Finally, in the verses you cite in John 21, you will note that Jesus did not call them the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." Nor did He call them "lost sheep." Just "sheep."

I would refer you to the following verses in John 10.

Jhn 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Jhn 10:12 He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
Jhn 10:13 He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep.
Jhn 10:14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me,
Jhn 10:15 as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Jhn 10:16 And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.

Please note verse 16 very, very carefully.

Again, I think your theory has some serious flaws to it. I suggested before that we agree to disagree. Allow me to suggest that again.

By the way, I hope your grandson's game went well. 51 mph? Not half bad!

You said, The land north was referred to as Samaria and still populated by paganized descendants of Babylonian refugees....the ancestors of Simon Magus. [Acts 8] From this, I surmise that the Samaritans were, in fact, descendants of the 10 tribes of the former Northern Kingdom.

Why would you surmise that? How would pagan refugees from Babylon [II Kings 17:24] being repopulated into Samaria have any relationship to the Israelites of the North. They had previously been removed [II Kings 17:6] by this same king who is now bringing in Babylonians. Two separate groups of people!

So let's take a look at this a bit. According to what you're saying, in the above references, including Matthew 10:6, is that Peter and the twelve were commanded to go to the ten lost tribes. What you said earlier, was that the Samaritans were, in fact, paganized members of those ten lost tribes

I think you need to go back and read it again. I never said this.

I also never said that there would not be a ministry to the Gentiles. I think that you are reading something into this that I'm not saying.

By the way, I hope your grandson's game went well. 51 mph? Not half bad.

Thank you....we won 21 to 7. Like most little league games they are usually very high scoring. LOL!

As I read Mt 10:5-6, Jesus is sending his 12 into the cities in the land of Israel in what might be called the "little" commission. This was not the great commission but a localized missionary activity to the cities of the house of Israel in the land of Israel.

It also appears that the focus of the apostles for the first years after Pentecost remained on the house of Israel aka the Jews, until the call of Paul, which together with Peter's visit to the house of Cornelius, opened the door of the kingdom to the Gentiles.

That's where Peter used his famous keys to the kingdom --- to open the door for the Gentiles. This event actually marks the birth of the Gentile part of the church. But note how unwilling Peter was to go down there. He had to be dragged kicking and screaming into Cornelius' house, the house of a Gentile to give them the Gospel.

It may have been at this time that all of the other apostles widened their ministries to include Gentiles as well as the Jews. If not then, then it certainly would have been at the Council at Jerusalem circa 49 AD. But Peter's focus remained on the Jews [the circumcision] throughout his apostolic life ---