John,
I was reading Mark 16. When Jesus commanded his disciples to go “into all the nations”. . . etc. I always thought that you taught that he was referring only to the nations of Israel (the tribes), because He himself was sent by God only to save the house of Israel. But in my concordance, it specifically translates Nations to mean Gentile nations. Is that a Christian corruption of the translation —- in order to support their “great commission” agenda in the world?
If it is correctly translated, then Jesus WAS actually saying to spread his gospel throughout the world, as Christians have claimed to be doing (though they have not spread the true gospel).
Brad
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Hi Brad.
Sorry for the confusion. Actually, I have never taught that “nations” in Mark 16 was a reference to the tribes of Israel. Jesus was referring to the nations of the earth. Also, Jesus was not sent only to save the house of Israel. He was sent to save all mankind. But he, himself, was sent only to Israel, and he sent his disciples only to Israel. There is no evidence of any sort, other than some Catholic traditions, that the twelve apostles traveled to foreign lands to preach the gospel. Philip preached in Samaria, and Peter and John followed him so that the Samaritans could receive the holy Ghost, but that is a far cry from the twelve apostles traveling to the ends of the earth with the gospel. The Samaritans were already circumcised, and so, that would not contradict the fact that Jesus and his disciples were sent only to the circumcised people (Rom. 15:8).
When the time came for Jesus’ commandment to be carried out and for the gospel to be preached in all the world to us Gentiles, God chose Paul to bear that gospel and fulfill the “great commission” of Jesus from Mark 16.
When Jesus told his disciples in Mark 16 to “go into all the world and make disciples”, they would not have dreamed that that commandment would not be fulfilled until a new gospel was revealed, the “gospel of the uncircumcision” which Paul preached and which differed from Peter’s gospel for the circumcision in that it contained no ceremonies, no holy days, and a complete change in the priesthood from that of Aaron and his sons to Christ sitting at the right hand of God. Paul mentions those two gospels in the book of Galatians and explains the difference between them. He taught that it was evil for Jewish believers to teach that Gentiles were required to submit to the gospel that Peter preached to the Jews. To him it was a matter of life and death that Gentiles submit only to his “gospel of the uncircumcision”. I believe that is true.
Hope that clears things up for you.
Pastor John