Dwell in the Word Mark 6:7-13

Consider these questions as we dwell in Mark 6:7-13:

1. How does the practice of sending out the disciples in pairs relate to the Old Testament principle of having two witnesses? What significance does this hold in the context of their mission?

2. In verse 11, Jesus instructs the disciples to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against those who reject their message. What cultural and symbolic meaning does this action hold, and what message is Jesus conveying to the disciples through this instruction?

3. The disciples are given authority to cast out demons and perform healings. How does this demonstrate the extension of Jesus' power to them? What implications does this hold for the disciples' role in continuing Jesus' ministry after His departure?

Transcript:

So, we arrived today in a short little interesting passage, a little bit different than some of the other ones that we have been looking at lately. Here Jesus sends out the 12 apostles. These are the 12 guys that he is entrusting his ministry to, the people that he is closest with, the people that he is teaching most closely. And so, what do we have happening here? Well, we see some interesting stuff. Now for us, we see here that he sends out His disciples two by two. Now for us, this would make us think of Noah and the animals coming. But there's another Biblical, Old Testament principle about two. Whenever anyone was going to give testimony, they had to have a second witness. There were two witnesses to anything to make sure that whoever was testifying another person wasn't just making it up. Well, here, as they are going out, as they are proclaiming the good news to people and teaching and doing all kinds of things, there's going to be people who reject them. And Jesus here is telling them, and we'll get to this a little bit more later, but telling them to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against them.

Well, if this group of people is not going to be receptive of their message, and they're going to have a testimony against them, well, what do they need? They need two people. They go out not only for safety and being together, but also to be able to give testimony to what they saw and how they were treated. But what is the really big story here is that Jesus gives them authority over the unclean spirits. This isn't just that Jesus has power over these unclean spirits. No, the apostles are given the same thing, and this is important because we know the story. We know that what is coming later on in Mark is that Jesus is going to be crucified. He is going to die, and He's going to rise again. We know from the rest of scripture that He ascends to the right-hand of the Father. He is going to have people who are doing His work here on earth. He has these apostles who are going to have authority to teach. We see this not just in the Great Commission before the ascension. We see it here already that they have authority. It's not just Jesus.

It's even those who he has taught. But as we think about this a little bit more, and we look at this a little bit more, we see that there's a pretty stern statement here in verse 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. Now, for us, this seems like, whoa, that's saucy, right? Maybe. But back during this time, the strict Jews, when they would leave a pagan nation, they would shake the dust off their feet as to leave it behind because they were returning to where they belong, to where they believe God to be, and where they were blessed to be citizens. The idea here is if these people, even if it is in Israel, even if it's among the fellow Jews, if the people there don't receive you, shake off the dust off your feet and move on. Leave that behind you and go to where God has called you to go next. And so, what happened? Well, the disciples went out and they proclaimed that people should repent, and they cast out many demons, and they were anointed with oil, many who were sick, and they healed them.

Like I said before, we see here that the disciples are shown to have authority. But what is the big story for us as we come away from this? As I mentioned before, when we saw that the Gospel was being proclamed, this is a call on us too. We are called. We are sent out. We are not the apostles, but we are disciples of Jesus Christ who have been sent out into the world. And we need to remember that it's our job not to get people to like us, not that we should be mean or anything, but it is not our job to convince people. We go, we proclaim the word, we share the gospel with people. And if they do not receive it, it's not on us. We move along. Because sometimes I think that we are a little too concerned with what people think if we were to say something to them. I think that becomes a hindrance for our sharing of the gospel. But this is a reminder to us that it's simply our job to proclaim the word, to share Christ, and then move on. It is no skin off of our back if they don't believe that is up for God and His Spirit to work through those people.

And who knows? We may be simply planting a seed that will grow later. It is not our job to convince them. That is the work of the Spirit. And so may we faithfully proclaim the word of God with authority, proclaim the Gospel to those that we know, and not worry about what is happening there, but instead know that we move forward. We continue to proclaim the Gospel, and we continue to share it knowing that God, through His word and Spirit, will bring people to faith. And so may we step out into the world today doing just that and believing that God will be at work through us.