📖 Passage Breakdown — Matthew 10:5–6

 

“These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying, ‘Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’”

 

📜 Background, Setting & Purpose

 

✍️ Author

 

Matthew.

 

👥 Written To

 

Israel.

 

⏲️ When

 

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, prior to the cross and prior to any Gentile commission.

 

🌍 Contextual Purpose

 

Matthew 10 records Jesus commissioning the twelve apostles within Israel’s prophetic program.

 

This mission is:

 

• Temporary
• Specific
• Covenantally restricted

 

It is not the Great Commission.

 

✨ Key Doctrinal Observations

 

• Jesus explicitly forbids Gentile outreach at this stage
• The apostles’ mission mirrors Jesus’ own mission (cf. Matt 15:24)
• “Lost sheep” again refers to covenant Israel
• This confirms Israel remained the focal point of God’s dealings

 

Matthew 10:5–6 and Matthew 15:24 interpret one another.

 

📘 Doctrinal Summary

 

Matthew 10:5–6 confirms that Jesus’ earthly ministry—and the ministry He delegated to the twelve—was intentionally limited to Israel. This restriction was not based on ethnicity or worth, but on covenant order and prophetic fulfillment. Together with Matthew 15:24, this passage establishes that Israel’s program was still in effect and that Gentile inclusion, as later revealed through Paul, had not yet been made known. These verses safeguard the principle of progressive revelation and prevent importing Church-Age doctrine into the Gospels prematurely.