Behold! Your Shepherd!!!



Question: "Why did Jesus say that He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24)?"

Answer: Jesus was in the area of Tyre and Sidon, a coastal region in extreme northeastern Galilee (Matthew 15:21) when a Canaanite woman came to Him with a request to heal her demon-possessed daughter. For a while, Jesus did not respond to the woman’s entreaties, and she followed Him and continued to beg for mercy. Finally, the disciples, feeling that the woman was a nuisance, asked Jesus to send her away. Then Jesus said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24).


We should understand Jesus’ words here not as an outright rejection of the Gentiles—moments later, He heals the woman’s daughter (Matthew 15:28)—but as a fulfillment of prophecy, a setting of priorities, and a test of the woman’s faith.

In Jeremiah 50:6; God calls Israel His people and “lost sheep.” The Messiah, spoken of throughout the Old Testament, was seen as the one who would gather these “lost sheep” (Ezekiel 34:23-24; Micah 5:4-5). When Jesus presented Himself as a shepherd to Israel, He was claiming to be the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy (Mark 6:34; 14:27; John 10:11-16; see also Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4; and Revelation 7:17).

Jesus’ words to the Canaanite woman also show an awareness of Israel’s place in God’s plan of salvation. God revealed through Moses that the children of Israel were “a holy people to the LORD . . . chosen . . . a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6). It was through the Jews that God issued His Law, preserved His Word, and sent His Son. This is why, elsewhere, Jesus tells a Samaritan that “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). In Matthew 15, when the Jewish Messiah says that He was sent to “the house of Israel,” He is simply connecting His presence with God’s purpose in Old Testament history. Christ was “born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5).

Every ministry must have priorities, and Christ’s ministry was no exception. When Jesus sent His disciples to preach the good news of the kingdom, He expressly told them, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:5-6). Jesus did not forbid their preaching to all Gentiles; He did, however, narrow their focus to the areas which should be most receptive—those who knew the Law and were expecting the Messiah. Paul, in his missionary journeys, followed the same priority of preaching to the Jews first (Romans 1:16.

Finally, Jesus’ words to the Canaanite woman served as a test of her faith. She came to Jesus believing that He was the Lord,” the “Son of David,” and the giver of mercy (Matthew 15:22). His delayed answer and seemingly exclusionary statement brought from her a further, passionate, public expression of her faith in His unlimited power (Matthew 15:27).

This act of compassion and healing of a Gentile is a beautiful picture of Christ’s ministry to the whole world—the Jewish Messiah is also the Savior of all who will believe (Matthew 28:19; John 10:16; Acts 10:34-36; Revelation 5:9).


http://www.gotquestions.org/lost-sheep-Israel.html

35,"And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
36, But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
37, Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
38, Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest."
Matthew 9:35-38

Ezekiel 34:1-11

In the first 11 verses,
God uses the prophet to chastize the leaders of the nation for failing to lead the people rightly
in their walk with Jehovah God.

He suggests that they should have been shepherds, caring for God's flock,
but instead had been feeding upon them for their own selfish gain.


Ultimately, God shares that HE would be a Shepherd to Israel.

•In verse 11 we read: "'For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them."
•Again in verse 15 He says: "I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down,
declares the Sovereign Lord."
•And as a shepherd to His people, we read of His care in verse 12:
"As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.
I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness."
•Verse 13: "I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries,
and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel,
in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land."
•Verse 14: "I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land.
There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture
on the mountains of Israel."

God was speaking in this case, directly to His chosen people, the Jews. But, just as today, though, He does not simply care for people as a race, but as individuals.

Listen to How He cares for individuals:

Ezekiel 34:16a I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.
I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, Just as real as God's care for individuals,
so is His commitment to execute judgment. As a holy God, he will not tolerate sin.

Listen to the scriptures as we continue in the same passage:

Verse 16b but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

Verse 17 "'As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.

Verse 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture?
Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water?
Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?

Verse 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

Verse 20 "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge
between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Verse 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns
until you have driven them away,

Verse 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered.
I will judge between one sheep and another.

In verses 21-30, God is using Ezekiel to speak directly to the Jewish people.
He says to them that there will be a time of difficulty for their disobedience and unbelief,
but that He will remain faithful to His promises to restore them.


But to all of us, God has spoken of:

...

Verse:31 "You, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God,
declares the Sovereign Lord.'"