Daily Reflections From Higher Things®

Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 7:1-19; Matthew 10:1-23 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of them Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" (Matthew 10:5-7) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It seems that every Christian knows of the Great Commission in Matthew 28. We are given the command to "go." We are given the baptismal formula, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." However, there is an often-overlooked Greek word in that sentence. The word ethni is most often translated as "nations," yet in this context, the word "Gentiles" is a better option. Why? It simply puts a bookend on the first commission found in our text in verse 5. It can sometimes be hard to wrap our minds around the idea that Christ became flesh to first go to the chosen people of Israel. It is from the house of Israel that the Law and prophets came. Even all