Or Matt. 15:24 "But he answered and said, I am NOT SENT but UNTO the LOST SHEEP of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL."
Not so "beautiful" to Gentiles there, is it? What does your church do with these Scriptures? Ignore them, play them down, or make yourselves into spiritual Israel in order to claim His words?
Who said it? To whom was He speaking? What did He say? And (thank you, Dutchboy) what was the reason for what He said?"
Okay, this is powerful. You have identified two of the cues that tell us there is much more going on in the narrative than "Rules for Christian living" and little questions into which we should insert ourselves. Thank you for your very insightful remarks. This is precisely why we cannot paint in broad strokes through these texts...we really were not even grafted in until after the cross.
"But NOW in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Eph. 2:13
Who were those that who "sometimes were far off."? Verses 11 and 12 tell you. It was the Gentiles. We were strangers from the covenants God made with Israel, having no hope, and without God in the world.
But notice v. 13. It is the blood of Christ that makes us nigh now.
"And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body BY THE CROSS, having slain the enmity thereby:" Eph. 2:16.
It is BY THE CROSS that Jew and Gentile are made one in Christ.
Does Matt. 10:5,6 and Matt.15:24 make more sense now? BEFORE the cross, Christ says He was NOT SENT but UNTO the LOST SHEEP of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL. He came to fulfill prophecy concerning the nation Israel, and to make them a kingdom of priests and a blessing to all nations. He was their Messiah and the Savior of the World. But they had to accept Him first. As we know they did not. They, as a nation, rejected Him.
And then we have the cross. Where the blood of Christ is shed for all, Jew and Gentile, and we are NOW on equal standing before God.
Everything that pertains to Jesus Christ's earthly ministry BEFORE the cross pertains to Israel and covenants and promises made to them by God. That's why the Beatitudes and the "Rules for Christian Living" in the four gospels does absolutely NOTHING toward salvation. It is at the CROSS that we find His finished work for us and our salvation.
I do hope you will read Ephesians, Chapter Two. It is an eye opener. Truly. God Bless!