THEY WILL BE ONE FLOCK WITH ONE SHEPHERD
Sakkie Parsons
Someone writes and asks me how I understand Matthew 15:24.
We read:
MATTHEW 15:24
“But He answered and said, ‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’”
My first point of departure, when I consider an explanation of a passage from the Word, is that in my understanding of that passage, the Word must not contradict my understanding of another place in the Word—because our Lord does not speak with two voices.
With that in mind, this is how I understand this passage:
Firstly, it is good to remember how our Lord views Israel.
There are people who do not like the idea, but Israel is a holy people to our Lord.
We read, to use just one example:
DEUTERONOMY 7:6–8
6 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
We must also not lose sight of the fact that Jesus, in His humanity, was fully human just like you and me.
For example, we read:
PHILIPPIANS 2:6–9
6 “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,”
Furthermore, we read:
HEBREWS 2:16–18
16 “For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”
I therefore see it this way:
At the beginning of His ministry here on earth, Jesus gave all His attention only to Israel.
For in His humanity, He could not be in more than one place at a time. And our Lord’s love never fails, and He does not go back on His promises—and you remember what we read:
DEUTERONOMY 7:8
“…because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers…”
Therefore, as you study the Word, you will see that Jesus devoted the greater part of His ministry on earth to the Jews. But God’s Son did not come only for the Jews. Therefore, we read:
JOHN 3:16–17
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
When you remember this, you also understand John 10:16 when you read:
JOHN 10:16
“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”
The other sheep you read about here are the non-Jews, like you and me.
That is why I read with such joy in another place:
ROMANS 8:29
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
So, you and I are Jesus’ disciples.
Let us help to expand His family by carrying out His command to us, namely:
MATTHEW 28:19–20
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Greetings,
Sakkie