Why did Jesus forbid the disciples to go to the Gentiles?

Answer 1

The Gentiles were the commission of Paul:

"...he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel..." (Acts 9:15).

Jesus told His disciples that their jobs when the Kingdom of God was established on earth would be as KINGS over the twelve tribes of ISRAEL... not over any Gentile nations.

"...verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, YE ALSO SHALL SIT UPON TWELVE THRONES, juding the TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL." (Matt.19:28)

They were sent, therefore, to the "lost tribes of the House of Israel" [who had been lost and scattered so long in history, that most of them believed themselves to be "Gentiles"... and still do today]. God knows who they are, and sent His disciples to them.

"...go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel." (Matt.10:6)

Another answer:First and foremost, Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah of the Jews, and His mission while present in this world was solely to them. The disciples helped carry out His mission (as opposed to having a mission of their own, which they were "in training" for), so they too were to preach only to those of the "house of Israel" (Matt. 10:5, 6).

Secondarily, the message they were to preach, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," would have meant nothing to a Gentile. The Jews, on the other hand, were awaiting a prophesied new kingdom (Isaiah 9:6, 7; Daniel 7:13, 14 & others), so the message held tremendous meaning for them, if they would but recognize it.

The restriction was rescinded as Jesus commissioned His disciples to their own mission just before He ascended into Heaven. His personal mission to the Jews was complete, and a new message was to be preached.

Luke 24:46, 47 - Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

The preaching of repentance and forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus still went to the Jews first ("beginning at Jerusalem" - see also Romans 1:16), but now it was also to be preached "to all nations."

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations... (Matthew 28:19)

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

While Peter and the other "Jerusalem apostles" are often considered the "apostles to the Jews" and Paul the "apostle to the Gentiles," any of them were to preach to anyone. Peter took the gospel to the first Gentile convert, Cornelius (Actschapters 10 & 11), and Paul preached to Gentiles and Jews alike.

1 Corinthians 9:20 - and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law;

[Quotes from NKJV]