It is true that most of the public ministry of Jesus was conducted in Jewish territory. Under the circumstances, the number of personal contacts with Gentiles recorded in the Gospels is surprising. He healed a Gadarene demoniac (Matt 8:28-34). Among ten lepers healed, one was a Samaritan, and Jesus remarked upon the fact that only the foreigner returned to thank him (Luke 17:12-19).
A Samaritan woman was the sole audience for one of Jesus’ greatest sermons. She received the assurance that the time was near when God would be worshiped, not just in Jerusalem or at Mt. Gerizim, but all over the world, “in spirit and in truth” (John 4: 5-42).
A Canaanite woman’s faith was rewarded when her daughter was healed. Much has been made of Jesus’ puzzling remark at the beginning of the encounter: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 15:24). This may have been a deliberate rebuke of His disciples, who wanted to send her away with her request unanswered, and who shared the racial prejudice which was common at the time. The significant point is that Jesus did minister to this Gentile woman, and praised her faith in the presence of His disciples and the Jewish onlookers (v. 28).
The centurion whose servant was healed was almost certainly a Roman. Commander of a band of one hundred foreign soldiers quartered at Capernaum to keep the peace, he was despised by the Jews who resented this “army of occupation.” Conscious of his own authority as a military man, he humbly assured Jesus that it would not be necessary for him to go to his house to heal the servant (and thus perhaps render himself unclean by entering a Gentile home). “Just say the word and my servant will be healed,” he declared with genuine faith (Matt 8:8). Jesus turned and announced to the Jewish crowd which was following him: “I tell you the truth: I have not found a single Hebrew who showed as much faith as this Gentile military leader” (Matt 8:10, author’s paraphrase). He did not stop there, but continued with this solemn prediction: “I tell you, many such foreigners shall come from the east and the west to join Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But many others who thought they were ‘sons of the kingdom’ (the Chosen People of Israel) shall be shut out” (v 11-12, author’s paraphrase).
The coming of a group of Greeks precipitated the final crisis in the inner life of Jesus: His decision to move on to the cross. It is clear that these were not merely Hellenized Jews, but aliens, either inquirers or proselytes, who had accepted Judaism and thus were qualified to worship in the temple area, at least in the court of the Gentiles. Their request for an audience caused Jesus to declare: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). The deep interest of the Greeks was evidence that the world was ready for His redemptive mission to be culminated by His atoning death: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” “All men”—Greeks as well as Jews, Gentiles, and Hebrews alike—this is the clear implication of these profound words recorded by John (12:32).
A Samaritan woman was the sole audience for one of Jesus’ greatest sermons. She received the assurance that the time was near when God would be worshiped, not just in Jerusalem or at Mt. Gerizim, but all over the world, “in spirit and in truth” (John 4: 5-42).
A Canaanite woman’s faith was rewarded when her daughter was healed. Much has been made of Jesus’ puzzling remark at the beginning of the encounter: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 15:24). This may have been a deliberate rebuke of His disciples, who wanted to send her away with her request unanswered, and who shared the racial prejudice which was common at the time. The significant point is that Jesus did minister to this Gentile woman, and praised her faith in the presence of His disciples and the Jewish onlookers (v. 28).
The centurion whose servant was healed was almost certainly a Roman. Commander of a band of one hundred foreign soldiers quartered at Capernaum to keep the peace, he was despised by the Jews who resented this “army of occupation.” Conscious of his own authority as a military man, he humbly assured Jesus that it would not be necessary for him to go to his house to heal the servant (and thus perhaps render himself unclean by entering a Gentile home). “Just say the word and my servant will be healed,” he declared with genuine faith (Matt 8:8). Jesus turned and announced to the Jewish crowd which was following him: “I tell you the truth: I have not found a single Hebrew who showed as much faith as this Gentile military leader” (Matt 8:10, author’s paraphrase). He did not stop there, but continued with this solemn prediction: “I tell you, many such foreigners shall come from the east and the west to join Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But many others who thought they were ‘sons of the kingdom’ (the Chosen People of Israel) shall be shut out” (v 11-12, author’s paraphrase).
The coming of a group of Greeks precipitated the final crisis in the inner life of Jesus: His decision to move on to the cross. It is clear that these were not merely Hellenized Jews, but aliens, either inquirers or proselytes, who had accepted Judaism and thus were qualified to worship in the temple area, at least in the court of the Gentiles. Their request for an audience caused Jesus to declare: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). The deep interest of the Greeks was evidence that the world was ready for His redemptive mission to be culminated by His atoning death: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” “All men”—Greeks as well as Jews, Gentiles, and Hebrews alike—this is the clear implication of these profound words recorded by John (12:32).
