Matthew 9:36-10:8

In the gospel of Matthew Jesus sends out the twelve, saying: "Proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Freely you have received, freely give.

In this passage Jesus names his twelve disciples and then sends them out to "the lost sheep of Israel." (Mt. 10:6) He explicitly tells the disciples not to go to Gentile or Samaritan towns, but only to Jewish communities. The gospel of Mark contains the same list of disciples and they, too, are sent out to preach and heal, but in the gospel of Mark Jesus does not restrict the mission of the disciples to Jews. (Mk. 3:13-19, 6:7) The gospel of Luke also does not include the restriction that is in the gospel of Matthew (Lk. 9:1), and it names "Judas the son of James" rather than "Thaddaeus" as the eleventh disciple. (Lk. 6:12-16)

The gospel of Matthew seems to have been written for a largely Jewish Christian community, whereas the gospels of Mark and Luke are directed to Christian communities dominated by Gentiles. This may explain why only the gospel of Matthew limits the ministry of the disciples to Jews. From the Acts of the Apostles and Paul's letters we learn that Gentiles were converted in the first generation of the church.  Yet, the church in Jerusalem led by the disciples of Jesus required Gentile converts to the church to keep at least some of the tenets of Jewish law.

Moreover, Jesus in the gospel of Matthew tells his disciples that every rule of the law of Moses is to be followed until "heaven and earth pass away." (Mt. 5:17-20) There was a conflict in the early church about requiring Gentile converts to keep Jewish law, and it appears that the gospel of Matthew is asserting a position close to that of the church in Jerusalem and contrary to the teaching of Paul and other apostles to the Gentiles.

Grace and peace...Bob