Let’s read Matthew 10:5-8, “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”  Notice the language of the Lord that His disciples were sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  It is clear in scripture, that when Christ came into the world, He came to save the Jewish people.  We read in Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save HIS PEOPLE from their sins.”  The Lord told the Samaritan woman in John 4:22, “…salvation is of the Jews.”  Although the Lord always reacted to faith, as in the case of the Samaritan woman, His purpose in coming was primarily for the salvation of Israel.

So, we see in our verses that the Lord is sending His disciples only to Israel.  He empowers them with certain powers as we see in Matthew 10:1, “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”  Do we have any record that the disciples actually did these things?  Luke 9:6 tells us, “And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.”

After the death of the Lord Jesus, we read in Acts 5:12, “And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.”  We read of James and John in Acts 3:6-7, “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ancle bones received strength.”  Peter raised Lydda from the dead as we read in Acts 9:40, “But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.”  We read of the Apostle Paul in Acts 20:9-12, “And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”  We also read of Paul in Acts 19:11, “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul.”

We don’t read of an instance where the disciples raised anyone from the dead while Christ was still in their presence, although this certainly doesn’t mean that they did not raise anyone.  The Lord gave them the ability to do say.  The work of the disciples may be referred to in the Lord’s words to John the Baptist, in his moment of doubt.  Matthew 11:2-5 says, “Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

I pointed out at first, that the Lord had sent His disciples only to the “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  However, after the Jewish people rejected the Lord and crucified Him, the sphere of the disciples’ mission grew to include the Gentiles.  We read in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”  What an undeserved blessing!  The Gospel goes out to all men, and any who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are saved, whether they are Jew or Gentile.  (201.6)