The Gentiles

For the longest time, I never really differentiated the significance between Gentiles and the Israelites, other than the Israelites are of Abraham's descendants and are heirs to the kingdom. However, it did not hit me that most of the gospels were written on the accounts of the Israelites, not as much for the Gentiles. This might sound trivial or may not make much sense, but for me, it opened up a whole new level of understanding of what God's intensions are and I am more grateful.

Here are the evidences:

John 1: 10"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him."
This describes the whole world, which is true to the fact.
God created man and woman on the sixth day. (Genesis 1)

V11: "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him."
Here is the sentence where the Israelites are been described.
God made Adam and Eve to be in his garden, which then they did not heed God's warnings.

V12-13:"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. "
Because of V11, God opened up the doors to everyone. Everyone who believed in his name, not because of descendacy, or any human decision, (because one could become a Jew if they follow the traditions, which includes circumcision) but born of God, or as the NLT put's it"...but a birth that comes from God." Which is baptism in Christ Jesus.

Luke 3
Jesus was of Jewish descent.
Jesus' ancestory was traced back to Abraham and back to Adam.
Therefore the Israelites were his own.

John 1
The first disciples were all of Israel descendants. They called him "Rabbi" and subsequently called him the "Messiah."

John 2
Jesus Clears the Temple during the Passover celebration.

John 3
Nicodemus, a pharisee, a religious leader, confronts Jesus.
Ultimately the question is the rights to heaven.
It is not of descents, but of rebirth into the Spirit.
Nicodemus is not pondering the fact that he has to be baptised, but the fact that anyone, not just the Israelites, can enter the kindgom of heaven.

John 4
This is the passage about the Samaritan women.
This is where we see the perspective of God towards the Gentiles, or people that are not of the Jewish descent.
In vs7, Jesus was the first to initiate with the Samaritan woman. The next paragrah shows the truth about the association between the two races. Not only was Jesus speaking with a woman, they do not look highly upon the Samaritans. So the woman was shocked when a Jew was not just reaching out to her, but asking for a drink, for a little help.
As we see in vs 17, the Samaritans do not have a moral standard as to what righteous living is, for she is living with a man she calls husband but not married, and the 5th no less.
Vs 27 shows the confirmation reaction of the disciples, which was astonished, shocked, but dare not ask of the situation.

The next passage speaks of the official in Cana.
I am not quite sure, and if there are any evidences that says otherwise. From the way Jesus was reacting to him, I would have to safely say, he is of Jewish descent. I am open to correction.

Chapter 5
The lame was of Jewish descent.

Second part of this chapter speaks directly of the Jewish leaders.

Chapter 6

Jesus teaches the disciples but a large crowd followed him.
He feeds everyone.
However, some disciples left him because the truth was hard to swallow.

Chapter 7
Jesus continues to teach to the Israelites.

Chapter 8
An Israelite woman caught in adultery.

Chpater 9
Jesus heels a Jewish man that was blind from birth.

Chapter 10
Jesus continues teaching the disciples.

Chapter 11
Lazarus, Jewish faith.


Well, I think you get the idea. For the rest of the gospel, it is addressing Jesus as the Messiah, the Lord, the Savior for the Israelites.

The definition of Sin

The English word "sin" is an archery term meaning "missing the mark" – the distance from the center of the bullseye to the point where an arrow is struck.
When you sin, it literally means you missed the mark, or the target, or the bullseye.
So do not get to hung up on the word, but just focus on doing what is righteous in God's eye.