Jesus sent out these twelve, commanding them and saying: “Do not go on the road that leads to the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.
In this passage, Jesus sends out his twelve apostles on a specific mission, instructing them not to go to the Gentiles or to the Samaritans. In this first stage, Jesus intends for his apostles to focus only on the house of Israel, that is, the Jews. The Jews were expecting the Messiah, and Jesus initially wanted his teaching to reach them first, since they were God’s chosen people. The Samaritans, a neighboring people, were often in conflict with the Jews, and at this stage Jesus limits his mission, focusing on his own people. Later, however, Jesus will open the way also for the Gentiles and the Samaritans, but in the initial stage the aim was to bring the good news of salvation to the people of Israel.