Matthew 15:24: Was Jesus Sent Only to the Lost Sheep of Israel?

Jesus said he was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and he later sent his disciples to all nations. Matthew 15:24Matthew 15:24 · King James VersionBut he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.Matthew 15:24 · King James VersionOpen source is the first sentence. Matthew 28:19Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionGo ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionOpen source is the second. The Qur’an also presents him as a messenger to the Children of Israel. That shared starting point is real. It does not end the Gospel where Matthew 15 stands, and it does not make Jesus a prophet who refused to be called God.

Key Points

• Matthew 15:24Matthew 15:24 · King James VersionBut he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.Matthew 15:24 · King James VersionOpen source (1): “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
• Matthew 10:5–6Matthew 10:5–6 · King James Version^10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ^10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.Matthew 10:5–6 · King James VersionOpen source sends the twelve away from Gentile roads and Samaritan cities, “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
• Matthew 28:18–20Matthew 28:18–20 · King James Version^28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. ^28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ^28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.Matthew 28:18–20 · King James VersionOpen source sends the same mission to all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
• John 10:16John 10:16 · King James VersionAnd other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.John 10:16 · King James VersionOpen source (2) says he has other sheep, not of this fold, who will hear his voice, and there will be one fold and one shepherd.
• Acts 1:8Acts 1:8 · King James VersionBut ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.Acts 1:8 · King James VersionOpen source (3) names Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth.
• Qur’an 3:49Qur’an 3:49 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [make him] a messenger to the Children of Israel, [who will say], 'Indeed I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I design for you from clay [that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allāh. And I cure the blind [from birth] and the leper, and I give life to the dead - by permission of Allāh. And I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.Qur’an 3:49 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source and Qur’an 61:6Qur’an 61:6 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, "O Children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allāh to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Aḥmad." But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, "This is obvious magic."Qur’an 61:6 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source (4) present Jesus as a messenger to the Children of Israel. Qur’an 5:72Qur’an 5:72 · Saheeh InternationalThey have certainly disbelieved who say, "Allāh is the Messiah, the son of Mary" while the Messiah has said, "O Children of Israel, worship Allāh, my Lord and your Lord." Indeed, he who associates others with Allāh - Allāh has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.Qur’an 5:72 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source has him say, “O Children of Israel, worship Allāh, my Lord and your Lord.”

The Sentence in Matthew 15

Matthew 15:21–28Matthew 15:21–28 · King James Version^15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. ^15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. ^15:23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. ^15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ^15:25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. ^15:26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. ^15:27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. ^15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.Matthew 15:21–28 · King James VersionOpen source is a Canaanite mother asking for her daughter. Jesus answers her first with the lost sheep, and the chapter still ends with the daughter healed. The sentence itself is not a riddle. King James:

But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24 · King James Version

“The house of Israel” is the people of the patriarchs, the nation the prophets addressed. “Lost sheep” is his name for them in this saying, not a second nation. Matthew 10:5–6Matthew 10:5–6 · King James Version^10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ^10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.Matthew 10:5–6 · King James VersionOpen source gives the twelve the same boundary at the start of their preaching: not the way of the Gentiles, not a city of the Samaritans, but the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The early chapters are aimed at Israel. A Muslim reader who says the Gospels begin there is reading the text that is on the page.

Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels sets the two portraits side by side. Was Jesus a Muslim? is the claim that his worship was already the later religion. What Religion Was Jesus? is his Jewish setting.

The Commission That Follows

The same Gospel does not leave the twelve inside that boundary. Matthew 28:18–20Matthew 28:18–20 · King James Version^28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. ^28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ^28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.Matthew 28:18–20 · King James VersionOpen source, after the resurrection, has Jesus say that all power is given to him in heaven and in earth: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” The nations are the people Matthew 10 had set aside. The command is baptism into the name he shares with the Father and the Holy Ghost. The Trinity is that name. Is Jesus God? is the confession the sentence assumes when the Son stands in it.

John 10:16John 10:16 · King James VersionAnd other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.John 10:16 · King James VersionOpen source: “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” The fold in the chapter is Israel’s. The other sheep are not that fold. He says he must bring them, and that there will be one flock under one shepherd. The verse does not wait for a later prophet to widen the mission.

Acts 1:8Acts 1:8 · King James VersionBut ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.Acts 1:8 · King James VersionOpen source is the geography after the ascension: witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judaea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Samaria is named on purpose. Matthew 10 had told them not to enter a Samaritan city. Acts 1 puts Samaria on the route. The order is Jerusalem first, not Jerusalem only.

What the Qur’an Says About His Hearers

Saheeh International renders Qur’an 3:49Qur’an 3:49 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [make him] a messenger to the Children of Israel, [who will say], 'Indeed I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I design for you from clay [that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allāh. And I cure the blind [from birth] and the leper, and I give life to the dead - by permission of Allāh. And I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.Qur’an 3:49 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source as the word God gives Mary: a messenger to the Children of Israel, who will say he has come with a sign from their Lord. The signs in that verse are a bird of clay, healing, the dead, and news of what people eat and store, each “by permission of Allāh.” The audience in the verse is the Children of Israel.

Qur’an 61:6Qur’an 61:6 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, "O Children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allāh to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Aḥmad." But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, "This is obvious magic."Qur’an 61:6 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source: Jesus, the son of Mary, says, “O Children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allāh to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Aḥmad.” The Qur’an both aims him at Israel and has him announce a messenger still to come. Was Jesus a Muslim? and Is Muhammad the Paraclete? stay with that announcement. Matthew 15 does not contain it.

Qur’an 5:72Qur’an 5:72 · Saheeh InternationalThey have certainly disbelieved who say, "Allāh is the Messiah, the son of Mary" while the Messiah has said, "O Children of Israel, worship Allāh, my Lord and your Lord." Indeed, he who associates others with Allāh - Allāh has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.Qur’an 5:72 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says those who say “Allāh is the Messiah, the son of Mary” have disbelieved, “while the Messiah has said, ‘O Children of Israel, worship Allāh, my Lord and your Lord.’” The verse uses his mission to Israel as a reason to refuse worship of him. The Gospel’s widening of the mission is a baptismal name in which the Son is named with the Father. Those are not the same ending. The Islamic Dilemma is the wider clash: the Qur’an tells the People of the Gospel to judge by what they have, and it denies what those books say about who Jesus is. Did Jesus Die on the Cross? is the cross, which Matthew 28 already assumes when the risen Jesus speaks.

Islam’s own sources make the mission to Israel a general rule about prophets before Muhammad. Qur’an 43:59Qur’an 43:59 · Saheeh InternationalHe [i.e., Jesus] was not but a servant upon whom We bestowed favor, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel.Qur’an 43:59 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says Jesus “was not but a servant upon whom We bestowed favor, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel.” Qur’an 34:28 says to Muhammad, “We have not sent you except comprehensively to mankind.” Sahih al-Bukhari 335 reports the Prophet listing five things given to him and to no one before him, the fifth being: “Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only but I have been sent to all mankind.” (5) In that teaching, a messenger sent to Israel is what Jesus was meant to be, and the universal message is Muhammad’s.

The fair concession is the one Matthew 10 and Matthew 15 actually make. Jesus’ earthly preaching, as he describes it there, was to Israel. The Christian claim is not that those verses are missing. It is that the same Jesus then sends witnesses to every nation, and that he is God, not only a messenger to one house.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does Matthew 10:6 Say?

“But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The previous verse tells the twelve not to take the Gentile road and not to enter a Samaritan city. The command is the first sending. Matthew 28:19Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionGo ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionOpen source and Acts 1:8Acts 1:8 · King James VersionBut ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.Acts 1:8 · King James VersionOpen source name the nations and Samaria afterward.

Did Jesus Come for the Lost Sheep?

He said he was sent to them. He also said he has other sheep not of this fold, and the risen Jesus commands a mission to all nations. “Only” fits Matthew 15 if the later sentences are left out.

Does the Qur’an Send Jesus Beyond Israel?

Qur’an 3:49Qur’an 3:49 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [make him] a messenger to the Children of Israel, [who will say], 'Indeed I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I design for you from clay [that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allāh. And I cure the blind [from birth] and the leper, and I give life to the dead - by permission of Allāh. And I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.Qur’an 3:49 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source, Qur’an 5:72Qur’an 5:72 · Saheeh InternationalThey have certainly disbelieved who say, "Allāh is the Messiah, the son of Mary" while the Messiah has said, "O Children of Israel, worship Allāh, my Lord and your Lord." Indeed, he who associates others with Allāh - Allāh has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.Qur’an 5:72 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source, and Qur’an 61:6Qur’an 61:6 · Saheeh InternationalAnd [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, "O Children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allāh to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Aḥmad." But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, "This is obvious magic."Qur’an 61:6 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source address the Children of Israel. They do not repeat Matthew 28.

Keep Reading

Matthew 15, Matthew 10, and Matthew 28 are the chapters. Jesus in the Qur’an and the Gospels, Is Jesus God?, and The Trinity carry the confession those chapters name.