Articles
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; and he instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belt—but to wear sandals; and he added, “Do not put on two tunics.” And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” They went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them. (Mark 6:7-13)
While Jesus was on earth proclaiming his message of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15), he chose disciples to help participate in the preaching of that message. He first chose Peter, Andrew, James and John (Mark 1:16-20). Later, this roster of disciples expanded to twelve (Mark 3:13-19). In Mark 6, these disciples were sent out with the same message as Jesus—that the kingdom of God was “at hand” and that the rule of God was about to manifest itself in the world in a new and profound way.
One striking feature about the disciples’ mission in this chapter is the fact that they didn’t actually grasp the full implications of the kingdom in the way that Jesus did. It isn’t until Mark 8:29 that Peter explicitly confesses Jesus to be the Messiah. Furthermore, it isn’t until after this confession that Jesus explicitly tells the disciples of his true intentions to be rejected by the Jewish leaders and killed (Mark 8:31). Far from being a backup plan or a footnote to the kingdom of God, the crucifixion and resurrection Jesus is at the very heart of its establishment. (It is no coincidence that the section of Mark that has the highest concentration of calling Jesus a “king” is the chapter in which he is crucified (Mark 15:2, 9, 12, 18, 26, 32)!)
Yet the disciples know that something is about to change, and the conduct in which Jesus instructs them is intended to prepare them for the reality of this kingdom, even though they don’t know it yet. On the cross, Jesus’ death signifies the total rejection and repudiation of every human idea about greatness and wisdom. Jesus skewers self-seeking ideas about personal advantage and “looking out for oneself,” and instead totally entrusts himself to God, the righteous judge.
Human wisdom would have reacted with great alarm to the instructions Jesus gave in Mark 6. Everything about what he says indicates a total lack of preparedness! Who goes on a journey without money? Who goes out preaching with reserve funds in their bag or money belt? Even today, when one of us goes on a trip, we almost always pack at least one change of clothes! But Jesus tells the disciples not to even take two tunics (6:9). If brethren today saw this kind of conduct in a missionary effort, some of them would doubtlessly criticize the preacher who went so foolishly unprepared. Would they have such criticism for Jesus’ instructions?
Jesus’ instructions also extend to the reliance on hospitality. When preaching in a village, the disciples were to stay with one house in the village (6:10). If no house in the village would have them, then there was no further provision, save shaking the dust off their feet, as a sign that they were held in contempt by God (6:11). This kind of conduct served a purpose. The disciples’ well-being was directly tied to how well the gospel was accepted by those they preached to. If they were received well, then the ones who were taught would share all good things with their teachers (cf. Gal 6:6). But if they were rejected, then the messengers would suffer as a result. In this way, they became like the prophets of old, who were mistreated and turned away. In this way, they even became like Jesus, who frequently had no place to lay his head.
Why would Jesus intentionally make the disciples suffer for their message? Why make their rejection so hard-hitting? Already, even at this phase in his ministry, Jesus was priming them for the idea that the Messiah was to suffer in order to accomplish the salvation of the world. In the same way, since a servant is not greater than his master, the servants of Jesus would have to suffer just like their master Jesus (cf. Matt 10:24-25; John 13:16; 15:20).
This short section about the disciples going out to preach ends with their initial apparent success (6:12-13)! They go out and preach that people should repent. They cast out demons. They heal the sick. Everything appears to be going well for the disciples! There is nothing in this text to indicate that they were rejected at this time. However, the story immediately following tells us the chilling report of the death of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-29). Already, Mark is hinting at the true meaning of the gospel message of the kingdom—not just the story of triumph over enemies, but the story of death at the hands of one’s enemies. To proclaim repentance and the kingdom of God is dangerous work. It can make you suffer. It can even get you killed. But Jesus calls for it anyways. He laid down his life for us. Will we lay down our lives for him?
