Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Islam critiqued loves his shepherd; didnt Jesus preach to gentiles?

In answer to the video "Answering Muslims: Jesus and the "Lost Sheep of Israel"

The individual Gentiles whom Jesus healed Matt8:5-13,15:22-28 were needy people Jesus encountered and helped out of empathy and after the person demonstrated his faith. 

Jesus' miracles were primarly directed at the Jews, no the Gentiles which is why these 2 incidents show the Gentiles having to pass through a "test of faith" before Jesus healed them out of empathy
Matt9:35-38"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field"
that lost sheep is the one to whom he was exclusively sent Matt15:24 and just as he was sent to the Israelites only, Jesus similarly commands his followers to preach to the Israelites only Matt10:5-6. Gentiles would of course be eventually attracted to the noble and humble prophet Jesus however this wasnt reciprocal, nor was he the least interested in attracting them to him.

Jesus went to Galilee Matt11 not to preach to the Gentiles but to gather the lost sheep of Israel to whom he was exclusively sent, as even reflected in the Book of James whose very first sentence is "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting". James was the leader of the Jerusalem council Acts15 tried to preserve the Jewishness of the group, and opposed attempts to convert gentiles. 

Jesus had sent his disciples ahead of him, among them James and Peter, to Judea and Galilee with the unequivocal instructions not to preach to Gentiles but only to the lost sheep of Israel, that dwelt among gentiles Matt10:5-6. His disciples were to prepare the way for his ministry among the scattered sheep of Israel only. It is to be noted that remnants of the scattered Israelites were found up to the shores of the Black Sea in northern Asia Minor that go back to the early NT times. 

Similarly, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus goes to Galillee while quoting Isaiah9, a chapter dealing with the crisis that existed in Judah which was about to be destroyed by the Assyrians. The northern Israelites had been exiled outside Israel, in the area of Galillee and as Judah was about to suffer the same fate, Isaiah reaffirms God's promise that the kingdom would be preserved 2Sam7:12-16. Jesus in Matt4 and later in Matt11 went to Galillee to those scattered Israelites only. And when he spoke of nations that are to be gathered by himself (he never did it in his lifetime) in the future, he doesnt say they will be gathered to worship him as their god and savior. It is talking of the end of times, hence the reference to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (in Jewish eschatology the righteous will be ressurected to enjoy the messianic era). This end of times will be recognizable according to the HB, once an utopian, "peaceful" world will be established and every nation worshipping a deity else than the Jewish God will either be slaughtered or subjugated Mt8:11-12,22:8-10,25:31-32,Jn10:16. 

Jesus' focus was on the Jews, because the HB makes it clear that it is through them that in the messianic era, all nations (that survived the mass slaughter) will be gathered under the banner of YHWH.

Remarkably, the Quran emphatically describes Jesus' mission as exclusively meant for the Israelites. To the Jews of 7th century Arabia, as is the case today, the reason for Jesus' mission and to whom it was directed to, was of no importance. No Jew would have walked around teaching the notion that Jesus was sent to the Jewish tribes. Christians on the other hand, teach that Jesus' mission was meant for all of humanity. The NT itself makes the claim, contradicting itself as is being shown. It is thus expected for a 7th century Arab who is neither a Jew nor Christian, and who awkwardly decides to reveal Jesus' target audience, to similarily state that Jesus was sent to all people. Or at the very least that he was sent to Christians just as Moses was sent to the Jews.

Matt12:14-15's far fetched analogy with Isa42 doesnt build a case for a universal Jesus ministry either. The book of Isaiah, which originally had no chapter divisions until Christian scribes arbitrarily made separations, and which constantly equates the Jewish nation with God's servant (Isa41:8-9,44:1,21,45:4,49:3-7etc.) is all about the exile and promised redemption of the Jewish nation/God's servant in the messianic age. None of that ever happenned anywhere near Jesus' era of course. In fact the preceding chapter plainly identifies the nation with the servant, calls the gentiles and the Jews, telling them both that the latter will be gathered and returned to Israel. 

Besides the usual incompetent proof texting by the Greek writers of the Gospels, what is more damaging to the attempted parallel of Isa42 with Jesus is that none of its descriptions nor what it speaks of fit Jesus' life, neither from close or far; promulgation of justice to the nations, executing justice (never was a judge), not crying or raising his voice (he did both during the alleged crucifixion, not breaking or weakening (whipped, murdered and beaten by the Romans), he wasn't blind and deaf, nor rebellious and disobedient to God.


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