The Sending out of the 12

6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. 8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Introduction

When I was much younger in primary school, there was a time in my life that I attended the local boy scout group (although it was called cubs, because of the age).

I was never the best of boy scouts, but one of the key things that I remember from those days is the boy scout motto: “Always prepared”

It was repeatedly stated, and you were repeatedly encouraged to be prepared under each and every circumstance to survive, and to help those who needed help.

And since those days, I’ve always remembered, when asking if I should take something along with me on a journey, “always be prepared”.

Go prepared for every eventuality, and make sure you’re ready for it.

I’ve heard that the girl guides / scouts use a similar motto, although I think for them it takes less training to do it, but comes more naturally.

It’s in the makeup of women to be prepared and to ensure that things are prepared for most eventualities, particularly when it comes to children.

In our years of having children, probably the most critical task prior to heading out of the house to go and do something was to ensure that the baby bag was packed and ready for any eventuality.

Extra nappies, extra baby grows, shorts, shirts, long sleeve tops, short sleeve tops, at least 2 or 3 changes of everything, because being children, they’ll mess just about as many pairs of clothes as you pack for them…food, snacks, water bottles…wipes…you name it, it’s got to go into the bag. As you can imagine it’s a large bag.

The point is that when we would go out, it would always be in such a way that you are prepared for every eventuality.

Being prepared is not a bad thing. In fact, the Scriptures themselves speak about being in a state of readiness…For example...

Matthew 24:44 NIV84

So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Titus 3:1 NIV84

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,

But as we come to our text this morning, we come to a passage in which Christ instructs His disciples to make a remarkable break from normal human wisdom and instinct.

He is about to thrust them out into the ministry and proclamation of the Gospel, and in conjunction with that, they are going to be told to go out with next to nothing.

We find ourselves this morning in a very important time in the ministry of Christ. Up until this point, we’ve had our attention focused on the fact that Jesus Christ is out ministering and proclaiming the Gospel, and the disciples are following Him around. He is their teacher, and they are His students. But the one that has been doing the ministering is Jesus Christ.

Up until this point, we’ve had our attention focused on the fact that Jesus Christ is out ministering and proclaiming the Gospel, and the disciples are following Him around. He is their teacher, and they are His students. But the one that has been doing the ministering is Jesus Christ.

As we arrive at this passage this morning, there is a shift that takes place.

Christ here conveys authority onto His disciples, and tasks them with the taking out and conveying of the Gospel message. The expansion of the church is about to take on new dimensions here.

As we look at this text, recall that Christ has just been rejected by His home town. He was there proclaiming the Gospel, teaching in the synagogue, but the people knew him, and they knew that he was a carpenter, and so they dispised Him, and ultimately they drove him out of their town (even tried to kill him).

Christ has just been rejected by His home town. He was there proclaiming the Gospel, teaching in the synagogue, but the people knew him, and they knew that he was a carpenter, and so they dispised Him, and ultimately they drove him out of their town (even tried to kill him).

And so Jesus has been rejected, but this doesn’t stop His ministry.

According to verse 6b, Jesus went around teaching from village to village. He simply carries on His ministry.

And that brings us this morning to verse 7, where we’re going to be pick up this story.

1. The Call (v.6b-7)

Mark 6:7 NIV84

Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

He begins by calling the 12 disciples to Himself (v.7a).

He begins by calling the 12 disciples to Himself (v.7a) and then sending them out.

The 12 were those who had been called previously by Christ to follow Him.

They had walked alongside Him.

They had been eye witnesses of the miracles that He performed.

They had been alongside Him as He taught.

For all of that time as they had been doing this, living life alongside the Saviour, it was the time that they were gaining exposure and being prepared to go out themselves in order to be Christ’s ambassadors.

And so when the right time comes, He gathers them around Him, and sends them out.

They did not determine the time that they would go.

They did not even decide or establish what it was that they were to do when they went.

Now as we consider this, I’d like us to just consider for a moment that at this point that these disciples are being sent out as ambassadors for Jesus Christ.

Everything was established by Christ.

But what was their state of preparedness?

He was the determiner of them going. He was the One who sent them. He was the one giving the instructions.

And the reason that I ask this question is that so often we perhaps think that we are never suitably equipped or qualified to be going out and proclaiming the Gospel message ourselves.

As the church, we always need to keep in mind that God has set forth His ways and His means of things being done within His kingdom work, and we would do well to follow the instructions that He sets down.

But if there’s one thing we learn from this is that the disciples were by no means perfect theologians. They had only been trained for a short period of time by Christ, and they had much to learn, and they would continue to learn much, and even be corrected much by Christ.

He has not only given us His word in order to determine these instructions, but He has established His church - the body - with Christ as the head.

But Christ nonetheless sends them out 2 by 2.

The Spirit of God dwells within the hearts and lives of His people, who then gather together as the body, and it is this body through which Christ has chosen to work in terms of the extension of the kingdom in our own day.

If you are concerned that you are ill-equipped to go out and proclaim the basic Gospel message, be encouraged by the example that Christ gives through His disciples.

It is within

And so as in the case where it was Christ who called specific disciples, trained them, equipped them, and then sent them out at the appropriate time, so it is that within our day, Christ issues the call through the church and its proclmation of the Gospel, and Christ equips and trains disciples through the church as the saints exercise their spiritual gifts, and then Christ even so chooses to send out select believers from within that context, through the confirmation that is given by the church.

As a Christian, you too have been given the Holy Spirit to dwell within you and to empower you, and it is through the working of the Spirit that will be enabled, if you will but trust in Him to work.

No individual should on his own determine that Christ is calling him to a ministry or to a task in Christian service if the church has not first recognised this and confirmed it.

But lest us consider further…I mentioned that the disciples were being sent out as ambassadors of Jesus Christ.

Indeed, disciples are the very representatives of Jesus Christ. They are His ambassadors. They were being sent out as co-workers of Jesus.

This is the wording of , where Paul talks about the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:17–20 NIV84

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

That, dear friends, is a powerful truth. That Christ was here sending out ambassadors!!

And so any person who would claim to act as a representative of Christ must ensure that they are only acting in accordance with the revelation of Christ, and that is the revelation of His word, the Scriptures.

Ambassadors for Christ, and ambassadors for the creator God Himself.

And what a humbling thought that this is what you and I are, if we are in Jesus Christ.

As Christ sends out the disciples, however, He does so giving them authority.

In particular, they would have authority over all the evil spirits and demons, and the power to heal.

They did not simply go out and have no authority or power to demonstrate that the work that they were doing was indeed from Christ.

They went out as those sent by Christ, and as those who had been given authority to perform certain miracles in order to confirm their appointment.

Jesus gave them authority over evil spirits.

You will recall that as Christ has been teaching and preaching around Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee, He has not been merely teaching and preaching, but He has been healing.

In other words, His message was being authenticated by the miraculous works that He performed.

Why was this so important? Well because the people didn’t know who it was that would be sent as the redeemer, and who to look for in order to ensure that they were trusting in the correct Messiah.

That’s why John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask Him: “Are you the one to come, or should we wait for another?”

And the response of Jesus was to point to the miracles that He was performing as a proof that He was indeed the one to come.

And so it is that Christ at this point not only has been performing miracles, but He conveys this authority onto His disciples as they take out the kingdom message.

So they too will have the ability to perform these signs and wonders, which will then authenticate the ministry and message that they are proclaiming.

When they went out into the streets, calling on people to repent of their sin, and to follow the man Jesus Christ, claiming to the people that this man was indeed the Messiah, the people would be able to ask them: “but why should we listen to you? What will demonstrate to us that you’re telling the truth, and that this is in fact the man that we are to follow?”

And the disciples could then say: Look at the signs that we perform. Here is the demonstration that our message is authentic. Here is the confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah, and that you need not look for another.

Now we need to understand that in our day and age, it is senseless for us to think that these words apply directly to us.

The ability to cast out demons and have this demonstration of authority was given particularly to the disciples as an authenticating sign that the man they proclaimed, Jesus Christ, was indeed the Messiah.

In our day and age, with the full revelation of God, from Genesis, all the way to the end of the prophets, and then the Gospel message of Christ in the Gospels, and the subsequent writings of the Apostles, we have established for us, and know beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Messiah of the world has come, and His name was Jesus.

He lived growing up in Nazareth, lived a perfect life of obedience to His Father, and then was crucified at Calvary. And this is the Christ that is to be served.

And so those who would claim to be performing miraculous signs in just the same way that the Apostles did, well I’d have to ask what for? What is the purpose of performing those signs? Are you trying to authenticate again who the Messiah is? That is already done?

But it would be wrong to think that we go out without any kind of demonstration of the power of Christ.

Instead, let us remember that we have been filled with power by the Spirit, a power which enables a wholesome and holy life. This is the fragrant offering before God, and this is the witness and testimony as to the power of God within our hearts and lives.

How essential is it then that we live our lives in such a manner so as to be those ambassadors of Christ!

2. The Command (v.8-10)

As we continue in our text, it’s important that we consider next the Commands / Instructions that Christ gave.

Mark very clearly outlines for us what those commands / instructions are that Jesus gave to the disciples as they were going out and preaching the Gospel of repentance, and exercising that authority over demons.

As we consider these various instructions that Jesus gives to his disciples, we will notice that the instructions relate primarily to a manner of life.

What is the kind of life that the disciples are to have as they head out on this first preaching assignment?

Quite simply, they were to live simple lives.

In this first missionary journey, they were to do away with any and all excesses or luxuries, and go simply with the basic necessities.

And the primary reason behind this was that these men were to be men of singular purpose.

Nothing was to detract from the mission that they were on.

Furthermore, they were to be absolutely reliant on the One who was sending them.

They were to have no self-reliance.

They were to have always in their minds the fact that they were kept, guarded, sustained and provided for by their heavenly Father, as they went about His business.

So let us consider together those various instructions that were given.

2.1. Concerning Provisions

The first set of instructions related to the provisions that the disciples were to take along with them as they went on these journeys.

In the first place, Jesus says that they are to take nothing with them for their journey except a staff!

The word “Staff” could refer to a number of items, but most likely in this context of the journey that is to be traveled, the reference is to a travelers staff, which was used at times as a walking stick for support and stability in walking, but also as a staff to ward off wild animals.

This was the most basic of equipment for the journey.

And that’s just about where it ends, apart from the clothing they wear.

Really, nothing else is allowed to be taken apart from their staff.

As Christ goes on, the further instructions very clearly indicate the limitations, as Christ outlines gives clarity on what was to be excluded.

Firstly, they are not to take any bread.

The basic substance which provides sustenance and strength for any journey is to be avoided for this journey.

They are not to take with them any kind of food for sustenance.

I recall in my younger days when we used to do many long hiking trailers - often 5 days or more.

One of the key things that you planned for such hikes was the meals that you would eat.

Breakfast, lunch and supper was carefully planned.

In the days before leaving, I recall us measuring out muesli into jiffy bags, a specific weight per breakfast, one jiffy bag per day.

Lunches were planned, knowing what would be eaten each day, and exactly how much would be eaten.

And this was critical to your very survival on the mountains. Without food in the correct quantities, you very quickly became wearied and worn out.

I remember one particular hike that we were doing - the Outeniqua, one of my friends had become so tired from the hiking that he could barely walk any further.

According to his own recounting of the event, he eventually got to a place where he felt he could go no further, curled up in a ball, and fell asleep.

And as he awoke, he woke up to the sight of vultures circling overhead.

But the point is this: without food, things can quickly go south!!

But the disciples are here told that they are not to take their basic form of sustenance with them, but rather are to go on their journey without any bread.

Furthermore, they were to take no bag.

Not only were they not to take food to eat, but they were not to take a bag in which to carry any additional supplies.

The knapsack that is spoken of here would typically have been filled with all the supplies that the traveler might need while traveling.

But in this case, the disciples are instructed to leave anything which they may have thought necessary for such a journey behind.

No additional supplies are to be taken with.

Instead, they are being shown the importance, at least in this instance, of absolute dependence and trust on the One sending them!

Finally in terms of what they are not to take: they are to take no money in their belts...

This instruction to them cuts off even the ability to go and buy food for themselves when they get to a city.

You will recall the scenario where there were thousands following Christ in a remote place, and when it was late, and there was no food to feed all the people, the disciples suggested that Jesus send the people into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat. That was after all the only means of getting something to eat when you had no supply of food.

In case the disciples had thought that since they were not allowed to carry food, and they’re not allowed to carry a bag in which they could have taken extra supplies, perhaps the thought would have entered their mind that they should carry some money with them so that they can have the means to buy themselves a meal, and perhaps even some extra clothes while they’re on this journey of theirs.

But Christ once again cuts of any source upon which these disciples would be able to draw which would lead them to a position of self-reliance.

They were in no ways to have any sense that they were providing for themselves.

The exercise here being carried out was one of complete dependence on God.

Moving into verse 9, we find further instructions:

Mark 6:9 NIV84

Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.

The disciples will be going on a long journey, but they’re not expected to walk bear foot (as some of the more extreme ascetic groups would have) but they are allowed to take the basic sandals which were common in the day.

The disciples will be going on a long journey, but they’re not expected to walk bear foot (as some of the more extreme cultic groups would have) but they are allowed to take the basic sandals which were common in the day.

But added to that, they’re not to take an extra tunic.

The tunic was typically a kind of shirt that was worn under the cloak, and thus was normally considered as a type of undergarment.

It was made of linen or wool, and stretched from the shoulders down to about the knees or the ankles.

This was a day to day garment, the most basic piece of clothing.

While it was normal to sometimes where a coat over this, it wasn’t necessarily worn.

But the tunic was worn daily.

And of this garment, they were not to take any spare.

As we consider this list of items that are outlined here, there are a couple of observations that I’d like to make.

The first has to do with the fact that the disciples were to travel with the absolute bare necessities.

I’ve touched on this already, but it’s important that we realise this and let it sink in.

They were not to be like the boy scouts are - prepared for every circumstance.

They were not to be like the nurturing and caring mother - taking everything but the kitchen sink, prepared for anything and everything.

“The journey on which Jesus sends them is unlike any other, for it must be made without an elaborate support apparatus and with only the barest provisions.

The barest of essentials, however, ensures that they place their trust not in their supplies and training but rather than in the one who sends them.

And the point that this would convey to the disciples, or the key thing that this would teach the disciples would be this:

True service of Jesus is characterized by dependence on Jesus, and dependence on Jesus is signified by going where Jesus sends despite material shortfalls and unanswered questions.” [1]

“The four items required of the Twelve are, in fact, identical to the belongings that God instructs the Israelites to take on their flight from Egypt: cloak, belt, sandals, and staff in hand ().

The parallel in dress, in other words, is identical with the Exodus apparel.

These four items of clothing [thus] recall the haste and expectation of the Exodus.

They suggest that the mission of the Twelve announces something as foundational and revelatory as the Exodus from Egypt, and that the disciples must be as free from encumbrances as were the Israelites, to serve their God in a new venture.” [2]

Well those are the instructions that Jesus gives to the disciples concerning their supplies, and what they’re to take with them.

But as we move on, we find the instructions that he gives concerning their accommodation while on this missionary journey.

2.2. Concerning their Accommodation (v.10)

Verse 10...

Mark 6:10 NIV84

Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.

But as we move on, we find the instructions that he gives concerning their accommodation while on this missionary journey.

Within the Jewish culture of the day, it was typical that if there were traveling Jews, they would arrive at a city and go to the city square, where people who were residents in that city would see them, and the invite them to stay at their house.

That was perhaps, but not necessarily the case of the disciples. We read in

Matthew 10:11 NIV84

“Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave.

And so in this case, the disciples would enter into a town or village, and be about proclaiming the Gospel there, and probably while they’re doing this, looking amongst those whom they are proclaiming for a worthy person (someone responsive to the Gospel) who will welcome them into their homes.

“It was the duty of the hearers to extend hospitality.

All the more so when the travelers enrich the people with the pearl of great price.

And the visitors themselves - that is the disciples - were told that they should show a co-operative spirit.

They must not be so “nit-picky” or so concerned about how clean, or unclean, etc. that whenever some small detail is not to their liking in one home, they immediately leave and enter another where the facilities seem to be more desirable and the food more palatable.

The spread of the gospel has the priority over personal likes and dislikes.

Hence the missionaries were to remain in the home that was kind enough to extend hospitality to them. A very practical lesson!” [3]

Consider how the ministry would have been negatively impacted due to an ungrateful spirit within the disciples.

Consider how poorly it would have come across if the disciples, while living in one house, received an offer of better accommodation, or better meals, just down the road.

The point was that this was not so much about themselves, but about the spread of the Gospel.

This was not about them seeking out something better for themselves, but rather it was about them showing contentment in every circumstance, so taht the Gospel message would in no ways be undermined.

Friends, we need to ask ourselves, are we living in such a way that we demonstrate the impact of the Gospel in our own lives through the way in which we conduct ourselves?

We should never fall into the trap of believing that how we live our lives does not have an impact on our witness and testimony.

It has a most profound impact on people.

3. The Condemnation (v.11)

With those instructions considered, let us then consider further “The Condemnation”...

In verse 11 of our text, we read Christ’s instructions to the disciples for those who will not welcome them as they carry out this message:

Mark 6:11 NIV84

And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.”

Here is some important words for consideration by us this morning.

In this particular mission, the disciples are not called to go and set up camp in a place, and to remain there for extended periods of time, trying to convince people of the Gospel message.

This was not necessarily always to be the case. There were instances and examples where the disciples would go into a town and stay there for long periods of time, trying to convince the people of the Gospel message, even when there was apparent rejection and even persecution.

But in this instance, Christ simply tells them, that if after they arrive at a particular place, the people in that town will not listen to the message, or no person welcomes them into their house, then that town is essentially condemned.

Perhaps not for eternity; perhaps not without any future hope of coming to repentance, but certainly Christ tells the disciples to show them this sign as a testimony against them.

And the sign was that they were to shake the dust off of their feet as they were leaving.

Now to us that would look rather odd, and we’d think the person who did such a thing as quite strange.

But in that day, there was a definite meaning associated with the action.

Focus on the condemnation that those will face who reject not only the message of Jesus Christ, but the messengers who bring that message.

“After traveling through heathen territory Jews had the custom of shaking the dust off their sandals and clothes before re-entering the Holy Land.

They were afraid that otherwise in their own country levitically clean objects might be rendered unclean.

What Jesus is here saying, therefore, is that any place whatever, be it a house, village, city, hamlet, that refuses to accept the gospel must be considered unclean, as if it were pagan soil.” [4]

When Paul and Barnabas later went on their missionary journeys this is what they did when they were persecuted...

Acts 13:50–51 NIV84

But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

There is a testimony that is brought against the town…and that testimony is given by the shaking of dust off of their feet.

The judgement of God thus rested and remained upon them, since they refused to hear and acknowledge the Gospel.

4. The Cry (v.12)

Fourthly this morning (and the last two points will be brief) notice “The Cry” that went out as these disciples went on this journey.

What was it that they preached? ....verse 12....

Mark 6:12 NIV84

They went out and preached that people should repent.

This is nothing new. It’s nothing that hasn’t been raised before. Instead, it is the exact same Gospel that was being preached by John the Baptist in the wilderness.

The message is nothing new. It’s nothing that hasn’t been raised before. Instead, it is the exact same Gospel that was being preached by John the Baptist in the wilderness.

And it is the exact same message that was being preached by Jesus Christ Himself.

The Cry that goes out from these disciples as they enter into these various villages is that people should repent of their sins.

The word repent, similarly to , was that they should turn away from their sin.

They should have a change of mind.

They should no longer walk in their former ways, but should walk in newness of life.

Here is the heart of the Gospel proclamation.

Not that Jesus can make your life happy, so believe in him.

Not that everything better when you simply say the name Jesus.

But that you should repent.

Turn away from your sin!!

This is what Jesus sends His disciples out into the world to proclaim.

5. The Confirmation (v.13)

And then finally, we see The Confirmation in verse 13.

That is, the confirmation of the message coming about through the performing of signs and wonders, as Christ enabled and gave them authority to do.

Mark 6:13 NIV84

They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

The simple point that I draw from this is the fact that in the same way that Christ performed powerful signs and miracles in order to authenticate his ministry, so too the disciples were granted that power to demonstrate to a world looking on that they were indeed sent by Jesus Christ, and that they were His appointed ones in proclaiming the Gospel message.

The power that Christ used in His ministry, and the authority with which He drove out demons, He gave to the disciples who also then continued with that ministry.

As we continue in this Gospel next week, we’re going to pick up on this event of preaching and the confirmation of the message and then proceed to consider some of the consequences of that message, and so I’m not going to say much further at this stage on it.

What I would like to do before we close, is to just draw some points of application for us.

Conclusion and Application

While we’re not all called to leave all our things behind, and head out onto the open roads preaching the Gospel, hoping that someone will put us up for the night, we do need to ask if we’re serving Christ in all submission and in all dependence upon Him.

It is clear from this account that the instructions that Jesus gave to His disciples are not instructions that can be directly applied to every believer of every age.

We don’t simply take this text, and say that because Jesus gave these instructions to his disciples, therefore they apply directly to me.

One doesn’t do that.

But while that is true, the underlying principle that Christ was teaching his disciples remains for us today.

As those who are believers, who know Jesus Christ, we are to live out our Christian lives in absolute dependence upon Christ.

There is no place for a Christian to live in self-reliance.

Indeed, even everything that we own, we understand to be a gift from the very hand of God.

Everything that we may have earned, no matter how much effort we put into that work in order to obtain it, is given to us by God, by His grace.

We can never live at any point in our lives without acknowledging God as the great provider of all things.

Perhaps I need to pose the question to you: In what areas of your life is God asking you to be more dependent upon Him to work out the details, even if those details appear to be basic necessities in life.

In saying this, I’m not asking for anyone to become lazy and negligent, and think that God will simply provide. Rather, I’m asking you: where are you making reasonable effort, but things just don’t seem to be working out? Rest in Christ. Rest in His sovereignty.

Believe in the ability of God to do immeasurably more that you can ask or even imagine.

The Disciples were given instructions that would have been difficult for them to comprehend.

Told to leave everything.

But further than that.

Told to take nothing on a journey into the unknown.

And yet, because they recognised the One giving the instructions, and trusted in Him implicitly, they believed.

And they obeyed!

Are you trusting in this great Saviour?

Bibliography

Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (pp. 180–181). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.

Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 180). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.

Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark (Vol. 10, pp. 229–230). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark (Vol. 10, p. 230). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

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