Skip to content

pvj-03: Jesus's Audience vs Paul's Audience — Scope Discovery

Study Question

Who was Jesus speaking to and who was Paul writing to? Jesus spoke primarily to Jews under the old covenant (Matthew 15:24 "not sent but unto the lost sheep of Israel"), to crowds and Pharisees, during his pre-cross earthly ministry. Paul wrote to mixed Jew-Gentile churches in the post-cross, post-resurrection, post-Pentecost era. How do audience and situational differences affect the "contradiction" claim? When Jesus says "keep the commandments" to a Jewish inquirer under the old covenant, and Paul says "not justified by works of the law" to Gentile converts in the new covenant era, are they even addressing the same question? Examine Matthew 10:5-6, Matthew 15:24, Acts 2 (Pentecost), Acts 10 (Cornelius), Acts 15 (Jerusalem council), Galatians 2 (Antioch incident).

  • GENTILES: Conversion of (Acts 10:45; 11:1-18; 13:46-48; 15:7-31; Rom 9:22-30; Eph 3:1-8); Prophecies of conversion (Gen 12:3; Isa 42:1-12; John 10:16; Acts 9:15)
  • COVENANT: The Mosaic law called a covenant (Exo 34:28); The Second Covenant (Jer 31:31-34; Heb 8:4-13; 12:18-24; 13:20)
  • JEWS: Applied to people of Judah/Benjamin, then to all Israelites after dissolution of northern kingdom
  • MISSIONS: General scriptures (Mat 24:14; 28:19; Mark 13:10; 16:15; Luke 24:47-48; Acts 10:9-20; 13:2-4,47)
  • JUDAISM: Religion of Jews; Judaizers a corrupt form of Christianity (Acts 15:1; 21:20-25; Gal 3-6)
  • ISRAEL: Name given to descendants of Jacob
  • JERUSALEM: Central location of Jesus's ministry and the early church
  • SYNAGOGUE: Assembly of Jews and God-fearers (Acts 13:43)
  • MESSIAH: See JESUS
  • TESTAMENT: A will (Heb 9:16-18); The new (Mat 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25)

Strong's Numbers Discovered

  • G1242 diatheke (covenant/testament): 15x "covenant", 11x "testament", 3x "covenants"
  • H1285 berith (covenant): 60x "of the covenant", 45x "my covenant", 40x "covenant"
  • G2474 Israel: 37x "of Israel", 23x "Israel"
  • G2475 Israelites: 5x "of Israel", 2x "Israelites"
  • H5680 Ibriy (Hebrew): 9x "of the Hebrews", 6x "an Hebrew"
  • pvj-01-paul-knows-jesus (score 0.509): Does Paul know Jesus's teachings?
  • law-16-paul-and-law-in-romans (score 0.431): Paul and the law in Romans
  • law-17-paul-and-law-in-galatians (score 0.425): Paul and the law in Galatians
  • nt-disciples-prejudice (score 0.412): Prejudice among NT disciples

Key Verse Clusters

  1. Jesus's Jewish-only mission statements: Matt 10:5-6, 15:24
  2. Jesus's universal mission statements: Matt 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Matt 24:14
  3. Transitional events: Acts 1:8, 2:1-11 (Pentecost), 10:1-48 (Cornelius), 15:1-29 (Jerusalem Council)
  4. Paul's audience declarations: Gal 2:1-14, Rom 1:16, 9:24, 10:12
  5. Paul on Jew-Gentile unity: Eph 2:11-22, 3:6, Rom 3:29
  6. Jesus on broader flock: John 10:16, 4:22

Key Strong's for Word Studies

  • G1484 ethnos (nation/Gentile)
  • G2453 Ioudaios (Jew/Jewish)
  • G1242 diatheke (covenant/testament)