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Blaine writes > Jesus himself never went to the Gentiles. He
never spoke to them except on one occasion that was an exception to
his rule.
NKJ Mark 5:1 Then they came to the
other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He had come
out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an
unclean spirit, ... 18 And when He got into the boat, he who had been
demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. 19 However, Jesus did
not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what
great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."
20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done
for him; and all marveled.
You might want to ruminate on this
passage a while, Blaine. Only one of the "ten cities" which together made
up the Decapolis was located to the west of the River Jordan (it was called
Scythopolis, a.k.a. Bethshaen). The rest were situated beyond the banks
of the "promised land," in what could only be classified Gentile territory
(the other nine cities were Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Gerasa [home of
the "Garasenes," a.k.a. "Gadarenes"], Dion, Canatha, Raphana, and
Damascus). Indeed Jesus sent this duly impressed Gentile into the far
country to "publish" (GR. karussein) his story until throughout
Decapolis "all kept on marveling (imperfect tense) at what Jesus had done."
And, Blaine, I find it quite noteworthy
that Jesus did this without first proselytizing him in the doctrines
and duties of the Jewish people. IF I had a complaint, it would be that many
Christians get bogged done in the minutiae of their peculiar forms of legalism
and fail to realize this subtle but profound point. To their shame, the
astonishing truth remains that Jesus sent this brand new Gentile
convert out without any discipling at all, not permitting him
to stay on with them and learn through the traditions of his
people the proper way of holiness. The truth is he sent him out
without so much as a whisper from the law and prophets, off without a
word on the do's and don'ts of godly living. No law. No commandments. No
holy days. No feasts or ordinances -- just a simple request: "Tell
them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion
on you."
In your post you claim that Peter was
the first to introduce the Gospel to the Gentiles. In fact, Blaine, he
was not. A caveman from Gerasa gets credit for that one. What Peter was was the
first JEW to go to the Gentiles. Ah yes, but before he was fit to go, he had to
come to grips with the fact that what Jesus had done under law for the Jews, he
had accomplished as well for the Gentiles -- and this he did for them apart from
the law! Indeed before he could go, Peter had to grasp the fact that he dare not
foist upon Greeks his Jewish customs: for who was he to call unholy
what God in Christ had cleansed?
Bill
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 6:32
PM
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Saturday
Sabbath/Other lost Israelite sheep
The Gentiles first received the gospel by way of the
Apostles--Peter first received the command to carry the message to those whom
God had cleansed as he saw the sheet lowered with the unclean animals on it,
and was commanded to "Rise, Peter, Kill and eat."
This was the introduction of any Gentile to a gospel message.
Paul was then commissioned to carry the message to Gentiles, and was deemed
the apostle to the Gentiles.
Jesus himself never went to the Gentiles. He never spoke to them
except on one occasion that was an exception to his rule.
They never heard his voice, yet he says, "Other sheep I have which are not of
this fold, and they too must Hear My
Voice!" His personal appearances
were ALWAYS reserved for the House of Israel,
ONLY!!
In a message dated 1/4/2006 6:33:16 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 1/3/2006 7:39:32 PM
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Saturday
Sabbath/Other lost Israelite sheep
What about
this?
Matthew 15:22-26
"And behold a woman of Canaan came . . . but he answered and
said, I am not sent but to the
lost sheep of the House of Israel . . . It is not
meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to the
dogs."
Do you not believe your Bible? Here
He actually stated in so many words his mission was to the HOUSE OF ISRAEL
only. The woman from Caanan,
although a Gentile, was an exception because of
her great faith.
cd: Then does that mean that gentiles
cannot be saved? If his words were for the "House of Israel" only then why
are we told to live by those same words that Jesus spoke to the Jews? If
so then the message that Jesus carried were for all men-this was foretold
as the Jews had to first be offered the truth with the understanding that
they would reject that truth-it was also foretold that Jesus would die for
the sins of the whole world-so he was also here for the whole world not
just the Jews. We then are grafted into the tribes- and in a
sense become a part of the promise given to Abraham and are actually
grafted into Israel (ie. Romans 11:17)
His mission to the Samaritans was due to
the large amount of the blood of Israel in that group of
people. The Samaritans were a mixture of Israelite bloodlines and
Babylonian bloodlines--they were descendants of those Jews who were
not taken captive in the Babylonian Captivity, and who intermarried with
the Babylonians who were sent from Babylon to occupy the land.
Because the Jews would not recognize their Israelite heritage, they even
had a separate temple, alter, priests, etc. But Jesus, knowing all
things, knew many of them were also Israelites. This was not a contradiction to his stance that he was sent "but to
the House of Israel."
cd: The Samaritans were more
correctly termed half-Jews (ie mixture of gentile and Jewish blood) as
such they were outcasts to which the Jews would have no part of-nor any
dealing with-as a half Jew is regarded as a gentiles-It is my view that
Jesus helped those whom asked for help-Jew or Gentile.After the Babylonian
captivity Ezra separated those that inner married with those Gentiles
mentioned and the Jewish blood line remained pure (ie. see Ezra 10: 6-17).
Not only that, but if his mission
was "but to the House of Israel," what about those Israelites--ten
tribes of them--who had already been taken captive many years earlier into
the "Northlands" by Assyria? How was he to minister to
them? The Jews were basically two tribes only--Judah and
Benjamin--and parts of a third tribe, Levi. The other ten tribes had
been taken captive years earlier and were never heard from
again. They are even today referred to as the "Lost Ten
tribes." So what about them? Did THE SAVIOR NOT CARE
ABOUT THEM?
cd: In Bible prophecy we are told to look
for Israel to become a nation again as a sign of the last days of the
Gentile world rule-to wit the Messianic Jews and the converted Gentiles
will rule the world under the leadership of Jesus Christ (ie. King of
Kings) at this same time there is a seven year time of testing and the
outpouring of Gods wrath-within this same time period God seals 12,000
from each tribe of Israel equaling 144,000 and each tribe is mentioned as
being present in Israel (ie. Rev.7,14). The nation of Israel came into
existence May 14,1947 and was ratified in 1969-This has never happened in
the history of the world-no nation has ever ceased to exist for 2,000
years and returned-yet Israel has done so. The Jews have returned and all
the tribes are present-so therefore logic would dictate there are no "lost
tribes".The sheep of another fold was the Gentiles.
--
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