Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 10:5

"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, Go not into [any] way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans:" — Matthew 10:5 (ASV)

Go not into the way of the Gentiles — This emphatic limitation seems, at first, to conflict with the language that spoke of those who would come from the east and the west to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. It also seems at odds with the fact that our Lord had already taken His disciples into a Samaritan city and told them that there, too, the fields were white for the harvest (John 4:35).

We must remember, however, several points:

1. The limitation was confined to the mission on which they were now sent.
2. It merely recognized a divine order—the priority of Israel in God’s dealings with humanity: to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.
3. The disciples themselves were not yet equipped to begin a work that required broader thoughts and hopes than they had yet attained.

It was necessary for them to learn to share their Master’s pity for the lost sheep of the house of Israel before they could enter into His yearning for the sheep that were not of this fold (John 10:16).