FROM DISCIPLES TO APOSTLES (Mark 6:7-13)
INTRODUCTION:
As we enter into our passage of Scripture this morning we coming to a turning point in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. Up to this point in His ministry, only Jesus has preached the gospel message, only Jesus has healed diseases and performed miracles cleansing lepers, casting out demons, and raising the dead, and only Jesus has confronted the hard-hearted unbelief of the religious leaders. In our passage this morning that is all about to change as He commissions the twelve disciples to be His apostles and to go out and preach the gospel in the towns and cities of Galilee. When reading in the New Testament we often read about disciples and apostles, and we tend to think that the words are synonyms and can be used interchangeably. They are not synonyms. A disciple is a learner, a student. An apostle is one who is commissioned by his Master with the Master’s own authority, then sent out in the Master’s name. Up to this point these Twelve had not been set apart from the larger group of disciples for specific service. But in our passage today the time has come for their ministries to begin. Within this passage we find five characteristics they were commissioned to carry out as apostles. Let’s pray and then read our passage of Scripture for this morning’s message.
--PRAY—
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Mark 6:7-13, our passage for this morning. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 6:7-13,
“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, NASB95)[1]
COMMISSIONED TO PREACH SALVATION (Mark 6:7a)
After Jesus left His unbelieving hometown, He began to make a tour of the villages, towns, and cities of Galilee proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. To maximize how many towns He could go minister in, as well as train His disciples in their future ministry once He was gone, Mark writes that Jesus summoned the twelve. Out of His larger group of disciples Jesus had chosen twelve, if you remember back in chapter three, they were chosen and named for us. Mark writes, “And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs,” (Mark 6:7a, NASB95)[2] Jesus sent them as His delegates, to take the message of the gospel to other places throughout the region of Galilee. Mark writes that “He began to send them out,” which might suggest that He did not send them all at once but staggered their send-off over a brief period of time. It is possible that they returned in the same way. Jesus sent them out in pairs or two by two for several reasons: to provide mutual support and protection, to strengthen the impact of their individual abilities, and to ensure that their message was affirmed by two witnesses in accordance with the Law of Moses. (Deuteronomy 19:15)
In the parallel passage in Luke 9, Luke in verse 2 gives us the purpose for which Jesus sent them out. He writes, “And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.” (Luke 9:2, NASB95)[3] The word translated “proclaim” is a word used to describe the authoritative, public pronouncement of vital information by a herald or forerunner. As the twelve in pairs went from village to village they functioned as the Lord Jesus’ heralds, imitating His example by publicly preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God—the good news that sinners can be reconciled to God and enter into His kingdom of blessing, hope, and salvation.
Returning to Mark, he states in verse 12 that “They went out and preached that men should repent.” (Mark 6:12, NASB95)[4] Proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand, they went on to emphasize that those who were listening to their message needed to respond in repentance and faith. Just as John the Baptist and Jesus emphasized the need for repentance, the apostles also stressed the need to repent through the recognition of your sinfulness and helplessness and to believe the gospel. This repentance of sin and turning in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ is the only means of forgiveness and salvation, this is the only way that anyone can be reconciled to God. We have this same mandate today, that we are to faithfully and accurately proclaim the good news of the gospel to those who are lost, calling them to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.
COMMISSIONED TO SHOW COMPASSION (Mark 6:7b)
As Jesus commissioned His apostles to go out and preach the gospel, He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. Jesus gave them this supernatural authority to authenticate them as true messengers or heralds empowered by God. Not only had they received authority over all demons, the parallel passage in Matthew 10:8 tells us they were given authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons. Speaking of the miraculous power given to the apostles, the author of Hebrews explained to his readers in Hebrews 2:3-4, “…how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” (Hebrews 2:3–4, NASB95)[5] That they could perform the same kind of miracles as Jesus proved that He had sent them. He used miracles to validate and authenticate His message and so would they as He sent them out. With the end of the apostolic era and with the canon of Scripture fully revealed, authenticating miraculous signs no longer exist. All who claim to speak the truth from God can be tested now according to the inerrant (without error) standard of the written Word of God.
Not only did this supernatural power and authority authenticate that the apostles were the official heralds sent out by the Lord Jesus, but the nature of this miraculous power also demonstrated the compassion and loving-kindness of God. Jesus could have demonstrated and authenticated His divine power and authority in many ways that would not have relieved human suffering, but He chose to do miracles that primarily delivered the sick and suffering, thereby reflecting God’s great compassion. In contrast to the calloused legalism of the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus was always sympathetic, tender, and compassionate. Jesus enabled the twelve to follow His example. Jesus wants those who serve Him to show the same compassion that characterized His ministry. We no longer have the supernatural power and authority that the apostles received, but that does not mean that we cannot exercise compassion to those to whom we minister or to whom we share Christ.
COMMISSIONED TO DEPEND ON GOD (Mark 6:8-9)
As Jesus continued to commission His apostles for ministry, He next commissioned them to depend on God alone. He gave them several stipulations for this short-term ministry trip. We have talked about the Passover before, during the first Passover when the Israelites left Egypt, the Lord commanded them how they were to eat the Passover meal. “Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Lord’s Passover.” (Exodus 12:11, NASB95)[6] Jesus’ instructions to the apostles were similar, they were to take only one staff, along with the clothes and the sandals they had on. The parallel with the Passover may be intended to demonstrate that a new era of redemptive history was about to begin, starting with the exodus of God’s true people from apostasy.
Jesus instructed the disciples to take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff, which served as a walking stick and a means of self-defense against robbers and wild animals. The parallel passages of Matthew and Luke sound like they were not to take a staff or even sandals, but the emphasis of both those passages is Jesus’ insistence that the disciples do not take extra for their journey, whether an additional staff, or extra pair of sandals, or a change of clothes. They were to be prepared at a moment’s notice, without needing to make preparations or gather additional provisions. All they could take with them was what they already had in their possession, including the staff in their hands, the clothes on their backs, and the sandals on their feet. Nothing more was to be taken. Jesus instructed, “no bread, no bag, no money in their belt— but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.”” (Mark 6:8–9, NASB95)[7] Unable to prepare or bring provisions, they were forced to depend entirely on the Lord to provide.
Jesus used this to teach the twelve the vital importance of trusting in God’s faithfulness and seeing Him provide. They had heard Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, now they would experience them firsthand. Jesus had said, “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.’ ” (Matthew 6:31–33, NASB95)[8] As they preached the good news of the kingdom, they could confidently depend on God to supply their needs.
The stipulations that Jesus gave for this first ministry experience were only temporary. Jesus was not calling on the twelve to make a vow of poverty, Jesus later made this clear, in the upper room, as He remembered this event, Jesus explained to His disciples in Luke 22:35-37, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you? They said, ‘No, nothing.’ And He said to them, ‘But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, “And He was numbered with transgressors”; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.”” (Luke 22:35–37, NASB95)[9] Jesus words indicate that the apostles should prepare and plan wisely for the future, but as they had learned from the current passage, they must always remember to depend ultimately on the Lord to provide for them. Just as we also must depend on the Lord to provide our needs while we prepare and plan for the future as we serve the Lord.
COMMISSIONED TO BE CONTENT (Mark 6:10)
The next characteristic that Jesus wanted His disciples to exhibit was contentment. In first century Israel, inns were often not a nice place to stay and could even be dangerous, for this reason travelers most often stayed in people’s homes as they journeyed from one village or town to the next, and the Twelve were no exception. Jesus made a very clear requirement for the apostles in this regard. Jesus told them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.” (Mark 6:10, NASB95)[10] Once they decided to enter a house for the purpose of lodging, they were to stay in that same house until they left to go to the next village. Given their power to heal diseases and cast out demons, they likely received invitations to upgrade their comfort by changing homes. But Jesus warned that they were not to move from house to house. After they accepted an invitation, they were to decline all others.
By doing this they would distinguish themselves from the traveling false teachers, who made a career of going from house to house, seeking money and taking advantage of the resources of their hosts. The Twelve were to be content in the place where they had first been invited. Paul warned Timothy about those false teachers who use their position as a means of material gain. Paul taught Timothy to avoid the love of money and be characterized by contentment. He wrote in 1st Timothy 6:6-10, “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:6–10, NASB95)[11]
The lesson Jesus wanted the Twelve to learn was that they were to possess contentment. Once they had settled in someone’s home, they were not to seek nicer accommodations. In the parallel passage in Matthew, Jesus also forbade them from using their ministry to make money. Jesus said to them, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,” (Matthew 10:8–9, NASB95)[12] Again, in contrast to the false teachers, the disciples were not to put a price on God’s grace or God’s compassion. They had been given extraordinary power, but they were not to use it for personal gain.
COMMISSIONED TO BE DISCERNING (Mark 6:11)
As Jesus was finishing His commissioning of the Twelve, he explained to them how they should respond to those who would reject them. Jesus said, “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.” (Mark 6:11, NASB95)[13] All Jewish people would understand this gesture. Shaking dust off one’s feet was a traditional Jewish way of expressing scorn toward Gentiles. When travelers ventured outside of Israel, upon returning to Jewish soil they would shake the dust off of the soles of their feet as an act symbolizing that they were leaving behind the uncleanness and contamination of Gentile lands. What the Jews understood as a symbolic protest against uncircumcised pagans, Jesus applied as a sign of judgment against Jews who rejected the gospel. The Twelve were being sent to the people of Israel, but if the people to whom they ministered refused to receive their message, even when authenticated by miracles, the apostles were to treat them as they did the Gentiles. In the parallel passage in Matthew Jesus says, ““Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.” (Matthew 10:15, NASB95)[14] Jesus’ words highlight the eternal consequences of rejecting the gospel. Those who have been exposed to the truth of salvation, and knowingly reject it, will receive the severest form of eternal punishment.
Jesus knew that the apostles would be treated the same way that He had been treated and He had to prepare them. They had just witnessed this in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth when He was rejected by the people who knew Him all the time He was growing up, even His own siblings. Because of this, He commissioned the apostles to use discernment regarding how long they should stay in one village or town. If the people rejected the message of the gospel, the apostles were to move on to the next village or town.
When Jesus had preached the Sermon on the Mount, He explained this principle as recorded for us in Matthew 7:6, ““Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” (Matthew 7:6, NASB95)[15] Any Jewish person would be horrified at the thought of throwing to dogs that which was consecrated as holy to God. In the same way they would be disgusted at the idea of tossing valuable jewelry into a pen of unclean pigs. Jesus used this shocking double analogy to describe those who reject the gospel and treat it as common and worthless. As the Twelve would travel throughout the region of Galilee, they would without doubt encounter those whom Christ described as spiritual dogs and pigs—hard-hearted, unbelieving Jewish hypocrites who self-righteously rejected the sanctity and preciousness of the gospel of the kingdom of God. When the apostles came across such people, they were to exercise discernment by recognizing the rejection and the need to leave and go preach to those who were more receptive.
OBEDIENTLY FULFILLING THEIR COMMISSION (Mark 6:12-13)
The twelve apostles (sent ones) were sent out by the Lord Jesus for this temporary ministry in the towns and villages of Galilee, and they went out and obediently fulfilled their commission. They preached the message that they had been commanded to proclaim, Mark writes, “They went out and preached that men should repent.” (Mark 6:12, NASB95)[16] And they performed the miracles that they were given the power and authority to perform. Again, Mark writes, “And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.” (Mark 6:13, NASB95)[17] In other words, in both their words and their actions they did exactly what Jesus had commissioned them to do.
Mark wrote that the apostles “were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.” (Mark 6:13b, NASB95)[18] Never do we read in the Gospels that Jesus anointed the sick with oil, yet the apostles did on at least this first occasion. Though olive oil was used for medicinal purposes sometimes, that was not its purpose here since the apostles healed the sick miraculously and not through the use of medicine. For what purpose did they anoint the sick with oil? In the Old Testament, olive oil was used to symbolize God’s presence and authority, especially in the anointing of priests and kings. When the apostles anointed the sick with oil it was to symbolize the fact that their authority and power came from God and not from themselves; they were not the source of their power but only channels for it. By using this simple symbol of oil, familiar to the first-century Jews, the apostles passed the glory back to the Lord Himself. As God incarnate, Jesus needed no such symbol when He healed.
CONCLUSION:
As we will learn next week, Mark interrupts his narrative to focus on Herod’s treatment of John the Baptist. Then later in the chapter he returns to the narrative we have just looked at with the apostles returning from their ministries in the towns and villages of Galilee, and they return to report to Jesus all that they had done and taught. As you think about this, knowing that you have received a commission from the Lord, a commission that He spoke to the disciples just before He ascended into heaven. Matthew 28:18-20 records this commission, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ ” (Matthew 28:18–20, NASB95)[19] As you think about this commission that you have received as one of God’s children through your repentance and faith in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus are you looking forward to being gathered to the Lord Jesus and report all that you have done and taught to fulfill the commission He has given you. We are not given the authority and power that was given to the apostles, but each of the five things that Jesus commissioned the disciples with can be characteristics that we should strive for as we live for the Lord. We can strive to faithfully share the good news of salvation, as we do, we can show compassion, we can fully depend on God to use us and supply us with all we need to serve Him. We can be content where God has placed us, but at the same time we need to be discerning and recognize when someone has rejected the gospel and move on. By incorporating these characteristics into our lives, we will be able to obediently fulfill the commission given to us by the Lord Jesus.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[18]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[19]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.