This is basically a question about Matthew 10:5-6.
“5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
#1) Basically, when did this change? According the gospels or Acts did Jesus ever say or do anything to imply something different?
#2) I keep reading on websites that Jesus sent Paul to preach among the Gentiles. Is this only according to Paul’s vision of Jesus? I’m trying to find a verse somewhere when Paul’s vision of Jesus says something like “Hey Paul, it’s not really working with the Jews. Go try it with the Gentiles.”
#3) Concerning the gospel of Matthew in general; Matthew was the only one who mentioned only preaching to the Jews, even though Matthew 10:6-15 is cross referenced in the other synoptic gospels (Mark 6:8-11 and Luke 9:2-5). Since its in all three, from what I understand, it’s probably from the source Q. Why would Mark leave it out(the part about preaching only to the Jews), Matthew add it, and then Luke leave it out again? I don’t know if this is really an answerable question but any speculation would be nice.
Check out Mark 11:17, when Jesus is reaming out the temple marketplace, “Is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?”
And later on, in Mark 13:10 “And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.”
And on the day of Pentecost, what would have been the point of the disciples being granted the gift of many languages for that day, if all the different peoples gathered for the festival weren’t meant to understand?
Or Mark 16:15 “go to all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation”
Both Mark and Q are considered to be sources for Matthew and Luke. So, if that section was in Mark, one could conclude that Matthew and Luke cribbed it from there. (The existence of Q was deduced from text that occurs in both Matthew and Luke but not in Mark.)
And finally, the bit that’s in Matthew but not in Mark was therefore added for some reason by the author of Matthew. His reason (or source) for the insertion can only be guessed at …
The latter is less explicitely a command to preach to gentiles, however if Christians weren’t going to be the ones preahcing to the gospel whole world then who?
Well yes, of course. Since Paul never saw Jesus except in visions how else could Jesus have sent Paul to preach among the gentiles? And of course nobody else saw Paul’s visions so nobody else could confirm them.
Needless to say such a verse doesn’t exists, since by the time that Paul had converted to Christianity all the Apostles and all the older converts were already well and truly engaged in preaching to gentiles (see Acts 11 for confirmation). Paul was instructed to preach the Gospel, there was no need to state yet again that Gentiles were to be included.
Speaking factually, the gospels seem to be a later compilation of numerous earlier writings from diverse writers. They don’t tally on numerous points of fact, such as who Joseph’s father was or how Judas died. There a great many other points such as this one where one gsopel will include or omit a seemingly important point, or place it at a different time. For example the Gospels omit the account of the infant Jesus’ flight and exile in Egypt, a seemingly important point of history.
In that context it isn’t in any way remarkable that a command to preach only to Jews, which was later throroughly rescinded, was omitted form one or more Gospels.