The Ministry of Christ (Part 1)

Christ's Ministry To The Gentiles - Matthew 10:1-10

Over the years it has become extremely noticeable that there is a great lack of understanding as to what the ministry of Christ was all about. Much confusion exists today about why Christ performed miracles; why He confined His ministry to the nation of Israel or why He told His disciples, " GO NOT
INTO THE WAY OF THE GENTILES AND INTO ANY CITY OF THE SAMARITANS ENTER YE NOT: BUT GO RATHER TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL" (Matthew 10:5-6). The answer to these questions lies in our recognizing that God's prophetic program, which has to do with Israel and the Earth, is far different from His secret program, which has to do with the Gentiles and the
Heavens. When we begin to make these distinctions, keeping each portion of Scripture in its right dispensational setting, we will have a clearer understanding of THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST while He was here on earth.

In this study, I will attempt to show what Christ was doing during His earthly ministry and what He continued to do after His ascension into Heaven. Much misunderstanding has been generated within Christendom by not understanding what Christ's earthly ministry was for and why, after He had
called and commissioned twelve apostles, He calls Paul and commissioned him to be a special Apostle.

A question every Christian should ask himself, but one that only a few sincere believers ever seriously consider, is, Why Paul? The answer you give to this question will determine the direction you will take in your understanding of God's plan and program for this dispensation in which we
live today.

Let us look at the record of the Bible and see if we can find, from the Scriptures, the answer to our question, WHY PAUL?

Christ And The Law

To set the foundation for this study, let us recognize that Christ came in His incarnation to fulfill the words of the Prophets. Everything Christ did or taught was in fulfillment of prophecy. He came into this world as a man, born as a Jew. He lived during the Old Testament time and was observing the
Law of Moses during His entire life. We see this in Galatians 4:4-5 where we read, ; "BUT WHEN THE FULLNESS OF THE TIME WAS COME, GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON, MADE OF A WOMAN, MADE UNDER THE LAW, TO REDEEM THEM THAT WERE UNDER THE LAW, THAT WE (Paul was a Jew and here he is speaking of the Jewish nation) MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION OF SONS."

The Ministry Of Christ - Part One.

During the times of Christ's earthly ministry, the Gentiles had been "GIVEN UP" as we see in Romans 1:24, 26 & 28. During Christ's earthly ministry, the condition of the Gentiles was as described in Ephesians 2:11-12.";...IN TIMES PAST (ye) GENTILES ... WERE WITHOUT CHRIST, BEING ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, AND STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE, HAVING NO HOPE, AND WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD."

During Christ's earthly ministry, Israel was God's chosen people with a special place of priority. It was to Israel, ALONE, that the Law and the Promises of God had been given. It was to Israel, ALONE, that the promise of a REDEEMER was to come and it was Israel's privilege to be the channel
through whom God would bless the rest of the world, for no one could come to God during the Old Testament time, except he become a JEW RELIGIOUSLY. That is, he had to become a PROSELYTE to Judaism. God's plan called for Israel to FIRST be saved, then they were to be God's ministers to the rest of the world, inviting the Gentiles to share the blessings of the Kingdom when Christ returns to rule over Israel as the promised SEED of David (II Samuel 7:12­13, & 16).

To carry out His ministry with Israel and for the earth, Christ began by calling TWELVE MEN to be co-laborers with Him during his earthly sojourn. They were to represent Him and carry out His ministry after He had died and ascended into heaven. They were also to share the rule of the Kingdom with Him, for He promised they would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel.

Matthew 19:28 says, "YE WHICH HAVE FOLLOWED ME, IN THE REGENERATION WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL SIT IN THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY, YE ALSO SHALL SIT UPON TWELVE THRONES, JUDGING THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL."

The Call And Commission Of The Twelve Apostles

The call and commission of these twelve men is found in Matthew 10:1-8. These twelve men are named in verses two through four and the name of Paul is conspicuous by its absence. Paul was not one of the original twelve men chosen by our Lord at the beginning of His earthly ministry.

The commission and ministry of these twelve men is seen in Matthew 10:5-8, with some duties being mentioned in verse one.

a.There has been much confusion generated by the designation of these men as DISCIPLES in the early part of our Lord's ministry and later they are called APOSTLES. The answer to these two designations is simple when we understand the meaning of these two words.

A "Disciple" is a STUDENT, someone who is being taught. An "Apostle" is someone who is SENT (the word apostle means A SENT ONE). After the "Disciples" had been taught by our Lord and had received a good under- standing of God's program for Israel and the earth, they were SENT to minister to the nation of Israel and are then called "Apostles."

From the record of the commission of these Disciples, it is clear to whom they were to minister and to whom they were NOT to minister.

Matthew 10:5-6 is clear that they were NOT to go to the Gentiles, nor were they to go to any city of the Samaritans. It is just as clear that they are rather to go to none but the "LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL."

a. A "Gentile" is anyone who is not of the stock of Israel. A ".Samaritan" was part of the mixed race that came from the nation of Israel who inter-married with the non-Jews after the Assyrian captivity.

To expand upon the fact that Christ did not come to minister to all the world, but to confine His ministry to Israel ONLY, let us notice Christ's attitude toward a Gentile woman who came to Him seeking a blessing (the healing of her daughter). We find the record of this event in Matthew
15:21-28.

From this section of Scripture it is clear that this woman IS NOT an Israelite, but rather a woman of CANAAN (she was a Gentile), living along the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. This woman recognized that Christ was God and that He had the power to heal her daughter. She humbly comes to Jesus, asking Him to heal her daughter, but Christ ignores her. He will not even answer her a word.

Christ's disciples beseech Him to give her what she wanted just so she would go away and not bother them, but Christ makes it crystal clear to His disciples that The Father had not sent Him to any except the House of Israel. Yet, this woman was insistent that He heal her daughter. She worshipped Him, saying, "LORD, HELP ME." Here we see that she recognized Christ as GOD and
freely gave Him her worship. Still Christ would not heal her daughter, but told her that His blessings were ONLY for the children of Israel and were not to be wasted on " DOGS."

a. In Christ's day, to call anyone a "Dog" was to designate that one as un-clean, an object to be destined, for at that time dogs ran in semi-wild packs, scavenging on the refuge of the cities.

Even after this degrading reprimand by Christ, this woman was not deterred in her desire to have her daughter healed, but was willing to take her place as a "dog" in respect to the Children of Israel, accepting only the "CRUMBS" that fell from the table of God's blessings after the Children had been
filled.

Only after this woman took her place as a "dog" and acknowledged that only Israel was entitled to God's blessings (willing to only take the "crumbs" of what was left over after the privileged people had been filled), did Christ speak to her in a compassionate way, saying, "GREAT IS THY FAITH: BE IT UNTO THEE EVEN AS THOU WILT." As a result of this action by this Gentile woman (subjecting herself to Israel and exercising great faith in Christ, as GOD), her daughter was healed.

a. The ONLY way a Gentile could approach God under the Law was to recognize the privileged position of Israel and take his or her place as being lower than the "Children" of Israel. Only then could he or she receive any blessing from God.

From the record of Scripture, we find this Gentile woman was sincere and willing to humble herself to Christ, but this did not help, for Christ had a SINGLE purpose during His earthly ministry. He was to bring ISRAEL to repentance and salvation as a Nation, and prepare this nation for the Kingdom
promised to David. To accomplish this ministry with Israel, Christ presented Himself as their Messiah and their God. He also gave Israel a preview of what the kingdom would be like. In as much as there would be no sickness during the one thousand year reign of Christ, He healed many in Israel as a SIGN that He was their God and their promised King. Israel needed these SIGNS as
we see in First Corinthians 1:22 where we read, "FOR THE JEW REQUIRE A SIGN..." Israel should have recognized the signs for what they were and Christ for Who He said He was. Christ's ministry should have con-vinced Israel that truly the Kingdom was at hand and that their Messiah and King was in their midst.

Not only did Christ show Israel a preview of the Kingdom by His miracles but He also gave them the Constitution of the Kingdom in His sermon on the Mount. Christ wanted Israel to recognize that in their own strength they could not bring in the Kingdom, nor could they, in their own strength, live up to the expectations of the Kingdom. All this was to be the work of God as He promised in the New Covenant which is outlined in Ezekiel 36:26-27.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 tells us, "A NEW HEART ALSO WILL I GIVE YOU, AND A NEW SPIRIT WILL I PUT WITHIN YOU ... AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT IN YOU AND CAUSE YOU TO WALK IN MY STATUTES, AND YE SHALL KEEP MY JUDG-MENTS, AND DO THEM."

Once Israel was converted and in the proper place that God intended for them, THEN the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20 would be carried out. The Apostles would have gone to all the world preaching the "GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM," inviting the Gentiles to join Israel in the blessings of the thousand year reign of Christ. It would be at this time that the Gentile woman would have freely received her request, for then, the Children would have been filled and the blessings of God could over-flow to the rest of the world.

That program was never carried out for Israel rejected the offer of the King and His Kingdom. Because of this, God set that program for Israel and the earth aside, TEMPORARILY, and ushered in a NEW program which had been - KEPT SECRET since the world began (Romans 16:25). It had been "HID IN GOD" (Ephesians 3:9) and never revealed to any man until AFTER Israel rejected the offer of the Kingdom. With a NEW PROGRAM, God also needed a NEW APOSTLE to carry this message to those to whom it was intended. This is where the APOSTLE PAUL comes into God's program.

When Israel refused to be the channel of blessings to the world, Christ revealed to Paul that His Kingdom program was being stopped, temporarily, while God completed His SECRET PROGRAM which has the HEAVENS in view instead of the Earth. After this heavenly program has been completed and the redeemed of this age have been caught up to receive their promised blessings in the
Heavenlies (First Thessalonians 4:13-18), God will return to His program for Israel and the Earth and start His clock of prophecy again. Then He will fulfill all the promises He has made to Israel and for the Earth.

In this NEW PROGRAM, anyone, regardless of his nationality, can receive forgiveness of sins and become a member of God's universal Church, simply by receiving, by FAITH, Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. Today, there are NO RELIGIOUS WORKS to be observed. Today, God only wants men to understand what His SECRET (His Mystery) program is and then to live according to His instructions for this dispensation. These instructions will be found ONLY in Paul's writings, for he ALONE is the APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES, as we see in Romans 11:13 where he says, "FOR I (Paul) SPEAK TO YOU GENTILES, IN AS MUCH AS I AM THE APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES, I MAGNIFY MINE
OFFICE."

Let us notice a few points that we, as Gentiles, have in this Dispensation of God's Grace, which neither the Gentiles nor Israel had under the Prophetic program. (Ephesians chapter three is a good place to start. Read Ephesians 3:1-9).

In this section of Ephesians, we find that the Gentiles and the Jews are equally made JOINT HEIRS; have been made members of a JOINT BODY and have become JOINT PARTAKERS of Christ's promises by the gospel. This "NEW MAN" is the "JOINT BODY" of Ephesians 3:6.

How we as Gentiles should praise God for this change in programs, and we should do our best to understand His instructions for this Dispensation of Grace. We should also be able to answer our question, "WHY PAUL?"

Pastor Marvin Duncan
Bible Treasures, 1820 Drollinger Street, Wichita, Kansas 67218

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