My Walk Through the Book of Mark by Annette Godtland

Sending Out the Twelve (Mark 6:7-13)

7And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. 8He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts-- 9but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.

10Also He said to them, "In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. 11And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"

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

Jesus is finally commissioning others to go out and help with his work. There is much to do. People need to hear the Word and there is suffering everywhere. With the help of the twelve, he will be able to reach many more people.

I have tried to imagine what it would be like to be one of the twelve being sent out. I know I would be very nervous about it. I would be glad that He was sending His apostles out two by two. But why the instructions to take nothing with for the journey? You wouldn't believe how much extra stuff I normally take with on any journey I take "in case of an emergency"! Here they were told to take nothing with: no food, no money, not even an extra set of clothes!

I was a Girl Scout Leader for a number of years. And they have a motto similar to the Boy Scouts: "Be prepared". What was Jesus preparing these Apostles to do? He definitely wasn't preparing them to be able to survive on their own, but to rely on the kindness of others and for faith in God to provide for them.

By taking nothing with, they would need to find places to stay along the way. They couldn't easily skip over places they would rather not stop. They would have to rely on the kindness of others to meet their most basic needs. Oftentimes you will get only what you expect of others. If you expect kindness from others, you will more likely get kindness from them.

Other outcomes that I have thought of that would result from them not taking anything with, could be more acceptance from people along the way. Having no possessions helps them be accepted even by the poorest of the poor who also have no possessions. Also, no possessions may help prevent trouble with robbers along the way -- they have nothing to be stolen.

So, even though Jesus instructed them to take nothing with, did Jesus prepare them for their journey? Yes, he knew more of what they needed than they did. Even with no possessions they were able to go out and preach, cast out many demons, and heal many who were sick. They must have been well prepared to so successfully accomplish what they were sent out to do.

Do you ever feel you aren't prepared well enough for what you think you are supposed to be doing? It could be that you don't know what your real mission is to be. Are you trying to prepare for the wrong things? Just as Jesus didn't send his Apostles out unprepared, he would not send you out unprepared. It is just that Jesus knows what you need more than you do.

Finally, another key point made in this parable is how Jesus instructed them to shake the dust off their sandals when leaving a place that would not receive them. I don't think this is necessarily applicable to only how to handle unreceptive people if we are trying to preach for Jesus. But I think it is also very good general instructions for how to handle any people we see who are not listening to us and are doing what we know they should not be doing. Note, it says they will receive their punishment on Judgment Day. It is not for us to punish those who do not do as we know they should do. Rather, simply shake the dust off our feet (do not let ourselves dwell on it, remove all remembrances of our struggles with them), and go on with what we know we should be doing. God will perform their final judgment.