Hallo. I'm a Christian. I've been studying Luke's gospel and thinking through the evidence for its robust historical accuracy and reliability about Jesus. But, it's recently made me doubt Matthew's integrity in comparison. And I've been reading some articles while looking into it. A common answer to why Matthew depicts Jesus saying he wasn't sent to anyone except the lost sheep of the house of Israel, is to say that before Jesus rose from the dead, he ministered only to Israel. After his resurrection, he sent the disciples to the nations. It makes sense. But, I don't see how it really holds up once we compare that with Luke.
In Luke 4:18-27, Jesus declares himself to be the Messiah and publicly tells the jews that just like how Elijah and Elisha ministered to gentiles over Jews in their time, so Jesus would too. Later in Luke 9:51-56, he sends his disciples to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival there as he preaches toward Jerusalem. And when it rejects him, he has to rebuke his disciples for wanting to destroy them. And then he singles out the one Samaritan Leper who came back to thank him after he had healed 10. All throughout Luke, Jesus is portrayed as welcoming non Jews and half-Jews like Samaritans from the getgo. Matthew has the opposite. He forbids his discipes from going into Samaritan and gentile towns and instead he sends them to preach to the house of Israel in chapter 10. He doesn't rebuke them for pushing a Canaanite woman away, instead he repeats that he is only for the house of Israel, and only barely heals her daughter because she doesn't take his no for an answer in chapter 15. So, did Jesus think he was sent to Jews and non Jews when he began his ministry, before the resurrection, or not? It's about how Jesus perceived himself and his mission as Messiah. And I think that's a fundamental question for integrity, to say the least. Does anyone here have any resources that I can read through with that specifically? And what are your thoughts? And should I reject Matthew?
In Luke 4:18-27, Jesus declares himself to be the Messiah and publicly tells the jews that just like how Elijah and Elisha ministered to gentiles over Jews in their time, so Jesus would too. Later in Luke 9:51-56, he sends his disciples to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival there as he preaches toward Jerusalem. And when it rejects him, he has to rebuke his disciples for wanting to destroy them. And then he singles out the one Samaritan Leper who came back to thank him after he had healed 10. All throughout Luke, Jesus is portrayed as welcoming non Jews and half-Jews like Samaritans from the getgo. Matthew has the opposite. He forbids his discipes from going into Samaritan and gentile towns and instead he sends them to preach to the house of Israel in chapter 10. He doesn't rebuke them for pushing a Canaanite woman away, instead he repeats that he is only for the house of Israel, and only barely heals her daughter because she doesn't take his no for an answer in chapter 15. So, did Jesus think he was sent to Jews and non Jews when he began his ministry, before the resurrection, or not? It's about how Jesus perceived himself and his mission as Messiah. And I think that's a fundamental question for integrity, to say the least. Does anyone here have any resources that I can read through with that specifically? And what are your thoughts? And should I reject Matthew?
