Jesus Sent them out with Instructions

7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Introduction

This passage informs us more about the character of mission for Christ than the specifics of mission. From a close reading of the text, we can draw the following principles about their mission that apply today.

In commissioning His twelve apostles, the Lord Jesus delegated His message and power to the first generation of gospel preachers.

up to this point they have been learning; the were spectators and the power that they will receive from him

Faithful Messengers Proclaim Salvation (6:7)

Mark 6:7 (ESV)

7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

“And he called the twelve”

When Jesus chose these Twelve men, He was making a statement about the apostasy of Judaism.

None of them came from the religious establishment.

None of them was a Pharisee, a scribe, a rabbi, a priest.

None of them was a temple attendant in any way.

None of them had any Levitical responsibility there.

No one was a ruler of a synagogue.

They were completely outside the religious establishment.

None of them was a teacher.

None of them is known as a religious leader in any sense whatsoever.

They were an interesting assortment of very, very plain,

unimportant men as far as religious activities were concerned.

most important before Jesus sends anyone anywhere he calls them

HE CALLS IN ORDER TO SEND don’t miss it - being invited/summoned and being sent we see here

Jesus choosing these men is an open judgment and condemnation on the religious establishment.

There wasn’t anybody in the religious establishment that was worthy of this. The whole system was absolutely apostate, we know that.

It is the religious establishment that led the operation that ended up in the execution of the Messiah.

The Lord is rendering a judgment on the system of Judaism.

There are Twelve of them. And that is not by chance, that is not merely happenstance.

There are Twelve because there are Twelve tribes in Israel and

they are the symbols of the New Israel,

the true Israel,

the Israel of God, the new people that the Lord is forming.

The Lord sent them out in pairs for obvious reasons:

to provide mutual support and protection,

to strengthen the impact of their individual capabilities, and

to ensure that their message was confirmed by two witnesses.

(cf. Deut. 19:15).“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.

one proclaims - the other verifies

Luke 9:2, “He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.”

The word “proclaim” refers to the authoritative, public pronouncement of vital information by a herald or forerunner.

Having announced that the kingdom of God was at hand, they stressed the need for their listeners to respond in repentant faith. [1]

This is their first short-term mission … not far and not long.

And as for this mission as in the final mission,

He gives them both the message to preach

and He gives them the power to do these miraculous wonders

that validate the message.

they were delegated the same power over disease, over demons, and over death that Jesus had exhibited.

This way the crowd would be spread and this way they would have much more freedom to move, and this way they would be an exact duplication of what our Lord did.

authorizes them and empowers them

This is delegated responsibility in the Kingdom which comes all the way down to church leadership. And to those of us who are in ministry today, we stand in their progeny, in their continuity, in their chain.[2] chief shepherd to under shepherds

by the way it is critically important that you realize that there is a difference between a disciple - learner and an apostle one to whom Jesus delegates his authority - given the authority by the one who sent them and if you reject those that Jesus sent you reject him

Faithful Ministers Live Dependently (6:8–9)

Mark 6:8–9 (ESV)

8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.

Instructions for ministering to an unbelieving world:

First, regarding provisions, “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic”

think the exodus

First of all, Jesus says, “I don’t want you to go with a wad of cash. I don’t want you to go with so much money you can live on the outskirts of town and kind of commute in in order to preach on the square.

I want you to be dependent on the hospitality of the people you’re ministering to. I want you to really live among them.”

Matthew–Luke (Comment)

These unique instructions

are given as particular, urgent signs to the Jewish people.

They signify peace, defenselessness, and trust in—and dependence upon—God (cf. Luke 10:8). The scene reminds the reader of the initial exodus from Egyptian enslavement (cf. Ex. 12:11; Mark 6:8–9). In both instances there is liberation from servitude. Jesus does not apply such specific instructions to future followers

You have to remember in those days, hospitality was a much more sacred thing than it is now, and therefore,

For the disciple to come with the message of Jesus but depend on the hospitality of the people there, to live among them, and to become dependent on them was an act of tremendous respect and humility.

The specific terms of the commission demanded of the disciples a rigorous commitment to total dependence upon God for food and shelter.

While the minimum requirements for the journey—staff and sandals—were permitted, they were to take nothing else. Bread, the beggar’s bag, the smallest coin in the belt,

or a second tunic to keep out the night chill were all excluded.

It was rabbinic law that when a man entered the Temple courts, he must put off his staff, shoes, and money girdle. That is, all ordinary things were to be set aside. It may well be that Jesus was thinking of this, and that he meant his men to see that the humble homes they would enter were every bit as sacred as the Temple courts.10 However,

The overlying reason they were to take so little was so they would be dependent upon Christ for strength. The minimum of provisions was meant to call out the maximum of faith. [3] “

Faithful Ministers Demonstrate Contentment (6:10)

Mark 6:10 (ESV)

10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.

Given their power to heal diseases and cast out demons, they likely received invitations to upgrade their comfort by changing homes.

But they were not to move from house to house, as if to receive money from more people.

After they accepted one initial invitation, they were to decline all others.

Speaking of his own contentment, made possible through the strength supplied by Christ, Paul told the Philippians,

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:11–13)

According to Matthew 10:8–9, Jesus also forbade them from using their ministry to make money: “Freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts.”

Again, in contrast to the false teachers, the disciples were not to put a price on their ministry. They had been given extraordinary power, but they were not to exploit it for personal gain.[4]

Faithful Ministers Exercise Discernment (6:11)

Mark 6:11 (ESV)

11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

It was customary for pious Jews who had traveled abroad to carefully shake the dust of alien lands from their feet and clothing.

This act dissociated them from the pollution of those pagan lands and the judgment which was to come upon them.

The same action by the apostles symbolically declared a hostile village pagan. It was a merciful prophetic act designed to make the people think deeply about their spiritual condition.1

We surmise that this ceremonial act made a strong impression on the countryside and brought some to grace. Today there are times when the Church must warn the world of judgment. There are even times to disassociate ourselves from sinful society.[5]

It would provide warning that the disciples had fulfilled their responsibility and that those who had rejected the mission would have to answer to God.37

The mission of the disciples has a selective character. Their presence in a town or village determines which of the inhabitants are open to the word of the Kingdom which they bear.

Should they wipe the dust from their feet and break communication with a village they consign it to judgment. This provision indicates that the coming of the disciples, like that of Jesus himself, had the character of sifting and gathering the true people of God.[6]

This gesture within the land of Israel serves as a prophetic, if enigmatic, warning that this is a pagan place and will be cut off from the kingdom of God if they fail to respond.

The mission of the Twelve communicates in dramatic and harrowing fashion the seriousness of the need for Israel to repent now. The message of repentance is that God reigns.

The messengers do not invite Israel to accept God’s reign if it suits them; they confront people with a yes or no decision,

so that there can be no middle ground.

If they reject the message, they will deprive themselves of the opportunity to receive healing and deliverance.

If they continue in their dogged defiance, they will face the judgment of God.

The same thing happens whenever we preach the gospel today.

We proclaim the forgiveness of sins and the free gift of eternal life through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. People respond to this message in different ways.

Some people believe it and are saved, while others reject it to their own condemnation. But either way, the gospel clarifies people’s condition; it shows where they really stand spiritually.

Until they hear the good news, it is our responsibility to give it to them; but once they hear it, it is their responsibility to believe it, or else to be lost forever.[7]

Mark (Prepared for Rejection)

There is no such thing as indifference to Christ.

You are for Him or against Him.

In the kingdom of God, there is no neutral ground.

In the church today, when we do mass evangelism, the standard technique is to offer an invitation after the sermon. We say, “As many as would like to respond to Christ, come now.” However, we do not usually add, “As many as would not like to respond to Christ, go to hell.”

But the gospel is a two-edged sword. If we receive it, the benefit is eternal life. If we reject it fully and finally, we do so to our everlasting peril.

Faithful Ministers Respond in Obedience (6:12–13)

Mark 6:12–13 (ESV)

12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

In obedience to their commission the Twelve proclaimed the gospel through their word and deed. Their message and the exercise of power confirm the representative character of their mission. They preach the message of repentance which Jesus had proclaimed; they cast out demons and heal the sick because these activities had characterized his ministry.

Their coming to a village brought healing and salvation in the most comprehensive terms because they were his representatives. Jesus had commissioned them and they came in his name. What Jesus did in his own power as commissioned by God, the disciples did in his power.[8]

The Disciples don’t go just talking. They go acting. They go serving.

Notice they anoint the sick. They heal the sick.

They exorcise demons.

They’re not just going simply to tell people things.

They’re going to minister.

They’re going to serve.

They’re going to meet needs.

Also, they were supposed to come with amazing integrity and simplicity of life with regard to money.

The essential element in the mission is the intrusion of the Kingdom of God “with power.” The expulsion of demons is clearly distinguished from the anointing of the sick,42 but both actions were visible functions of the Kingdom.

They declared that it was God’s intention to apply salvation to man in his wholeness. The focus upon the words and works of Christ anticipates the character of the more permanent mission the disciples received by the appointment of the risen Christ.[9]

What happened with the Twelve?

They heralded the gospel, preaching that the Kingdom was at hand and that people must turn from their sin in preparation for it (cf. Matthew 10:7). The result was, “they drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.”

In short, the Twelve experienced great power in bringing the gospel to an unbelieving world. It was repentance, deliverance, and healing, just as if Christ were physically there.

There was a foretaste of what the Church would do through the centuries when it operated in the power of the Holy Spirit.[10]

Jesus’ directions to the Twelve were designed to bring about massive ministerial effects.

+The tandem gift of authority and power got everyone’s attention by delivering the people’s souls from demons and their bodies from disease.

This was proof that the kingdom of God had come to them. Their message was “the kingdom of God”—that is, the sovereign reign of God. And the massive apostolic power and the enchanting good news of the kingdom were borne home by the apostles’ radical ministry approach, symbolizing the greatest urgency.

They preached with only the shirts on their backs.

They gave no thought as to where they would lay their heads.

They dramatically portrayed judgment on any who rejected the gospel.

Everything they said and did emphasized the urgency of the huge claims of their message. And their ministry, by Christ’s own definition, was a greater ministry because they were such rude, fallible instruments.[11]

Summary

We have the Great Commission. Our responsibility is to go into all the world and preach the gospel, as was theirs.

We are to call sinners to repent and believe in Christ.

We are to tell them that the only way to enter God’s Kingdom, enjoy forgiveness, spiritual blessings through all eternity, is to come to Christ.

We are also to show lost sinners’ compassion, kindness, tenderness and mercy.

We are to live lives that are constantly marked by trust so that no one ever, ever could assume that we do ministry simply to make our lives more comfortable.

We are also to demonstrate that we live lives of complete contentment with God’s sovereign control over our circumstances wherever we are.

And as kind and loving and gracious and selfless as we are, we also have a responsibility to speak judgment where there is fixed rejection and a mocking of the truth and move on to open hearts.[12]

What are the abiding principles for those who would minister midst unbelief?

We must expect difficulties in ministry.

“A servant is not greater than his master.” Nevertheless, Christ fights unbelief through those who truly believe.

The faithful follower lives in dependence.

He travels light.

He does not seek comfort first, but God’s pleasure.

He is straightforward about the condition of the world and the danger facing lost men and women. [13]

He not only gets involved in just simple, ordinary human life, but also in the vulnerability, pain, and suffering of our human life, and eventually he dies to redeem it. Tim Keller

[1]MacArthur, J. (2015). Mark 1–8 (pp. 286–287). Moody Publishers. [2]MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2014). John MacArthur Sermon Archive. Grace to You. 10 10. Barclay, pp. 143, 144. [3]Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior (Vol. 1, p. 135). Crossway Books. [4]MacArthur, J. (2015). Mark 1–8 (p. 292). Moody Publishers. 11 11. Lane, pp. 208, 209. [5]Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior (Vol. 1, p. 136). Crossway Books. 37 Cf. Acts 13:51; 18:6. In the latter passage the shaking of the dust from the feet is accompanied by the words, “Your blood be upon your own heads.” They will be responsible at the Last Judgment for the consequences of their rejection. [6]Lane, W. L. (1974). The Gospel of Mark (p. 209). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 6 Jews shook the dust from their feet when they returned to Israel from Gentile territory (see m. Ohol. 2:3; m. Tohar. 4:5). [7]Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 1, p. 429). P&R Publishing. [8]Lane, W. L. (1974). The Gospel of Mark (p. 209). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 42 The distinction between demonic possession and illness needs to be emphasized in the presence of the modern tendency to associate demonic possession with mental illness. On oil as a medicine in the ancient world see the references collected by H. Schlier, TWNT I (Eng. Tr. 1964), p. 232; H. van der Loos, op. cit., pp. 311 f. [9]Lane, W. L. (1974). The Gospel of Mark (pp. 209–210). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. [10]Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior (Vol. 1, p. 136). Crossway Books. [11]Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth (p. 325). Crossway Books. [12]MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2014). John MacArthur Sermon Archive. Grace to You. [13]Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior (Vol. 1, p. 137). Crossway Books.

Related Media

Related Sermons