Matthew 10:6 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 10:6 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The lost sheep of the house of Israel are those who need the shepherd of Matthew 9:36 — the harassed and helpless who are like sheep without a shepherd. The kingdom first reaches those to whom the covenant promises were made. Matthew 15:24 records Jesus applying the same phrase to himself: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel — the initial mission is circumscribed before it expands. The lost sheep image connects to the Parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15:3–7, where God's own passion for the lost becomes the theological basis for the disciples' mission.

Church Fathers on Matthew 10:6

Because the manifestation of the Spirit, as the Apostle speaks, is given for the profit of the Church, after bestowing His power on the Apostles, He sends them that they may exercise this power for the good of others; 'These twelve Jesus sent forth.'
Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation · non occ.

Observe the propriety of the time in which they are sent. After they had seen the dead raised, the sea rebuked, and other like wonders, and had both in word and deed sufficient proof of His excellent power, then He sends them.
Chrysostom · 4th century

This passage does not contradict the command which He gave afterwards, 'Go and teach all nations;' for this was before His resurrection, that was after. And it behoved the coming of Christ to be preached to the Jews first, that they might not have any just plea, or say that they were rejected of the Lord, who sent the Apostles to the Gentiles and Samaritans.
Jerome · 4th century

Read all 26 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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