The Sending of the Disciples (Mark 6:7–13) — A Sermon by R.C. Sproul
Summary
TLDRThe sermon, based on Mark 6:7-13, describes Jesus sending out the twelve apostles two by two with authority over unclean spirits. They are commanded to travel light and depend on local hospitality. Jesus emphasizes the importance of receiving His messengers, warning of severe judgment for those who reject them. The mission's purpose is to preach repentance, cast out demons, and heal the sick. The sermon also highlights the necessity of reverence and fear of God's judgment to drive people to seek salvation through Jesus.
Takeaways
- 📖 Jesus sends the twelve disciples out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits.
- 🧳 Disciples are commanded to take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bag, bread, or money, emphasizing reliance on God's provision.
- 🏠 Disciples are instructed to stay in the first house that welcomes them until they leave that village.
- 🌍 Jesus highlights the principle of being sent out to testify and bear witness to the kingdom of God.
- 👥 The disciples' mission involved casting out demons, anointing the sick with oil, and preaching repentance.
- 📜 Jesus uses the authority given to the disciples to authenticate their mission and message.
- 👂 If a village does not receive the disciples, they are to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against them.
- ⚖️ Jesus emphasizes that rejecting the disciples and their message will result in severe judgment, worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah.
- 🌌 The passage underscores the seriousness of the final judgment and the reality of God's wrath against unrepentant sin.
- 🙏 The sermon concludes with a prayer for an awakening fear of God and a call to repentance and faith in Jesus.
Q & A
What is the main scripture passage being discussed in the sermon?
-The main scripture passage is Mark 6:7-13, where Jesus sends out the twelve apostles two by two.
Why did Jesus send the apostles out two by two instead of individually?
-Jesus sent the apostles out two by two for companionship, partnership, and to fulfill the Old Testament principle of establishing truth through the testimony of two witnesses.
What instructions did Jesus give to the apostles regarding their journey?
-Jesus instructed the apostles to take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts, to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.
What was the purpose of the miracles performed by the apostles?
-The purpose of the miracles was to authenticate the apostles as agents of revelation and to demonstrate the authority and power given to them by Jesus.
What should the apostles do if a village does not receive them or listen to their message?
-If a village does not receive them or listen to their message, the apostles are instructed to shake off the dust under their feet as a testimony against that village.
What does shaking off the dust under their feet symbolize?
-Shaking off the dust under their feet symbolizes God's judgment and rejection of the village, similar to how Jews would shake off pagan dust when returning to Israel to avoid contamination.
How does Jesus describe the consequences for a village that rejects the apostles' message?
-Jesus states that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for a village that rejects the apostles' message.
What was the primary message that the apostles preached?
-The primary message that the apostles preached was that people should repent.
What role does the fear of God play in the sermon's message?
-The sermon emphasizes that there is a lack of fear of God among people, and this fear is necessary to drive them to the cross and to seek salvation through Jesus.
What does the sermon suggest about the relationship between Jesus and the apostles' authority?
-The sermon suggests that the apostles' authority comes directly from Jesus, and rejecting the apostles is equivalent to rejecting Jesus and his authority.
Outlines
📖 Sending Out the Twelve Disciples
The sermon begins with the reading of Mark 6:7-13, where Jesus sends out the twelve disciples two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits. Jesus instructs them to take nothing for their journey except a staff, emphasizing reliance on God's provision. He warns them to shake off the dust under their feet as a testimony against any place that rejects them. The disciples then go out, preaching repentance, casting out demons, and healing the sick.
🛤️ The Call and Commission
Jesus first calls the disciples to himself before sending them out, highlighting the pattern of being called and then sent. The term 'apostle' means one who is sent with authority, and the disciples are given Jesus' authority to carry out their mission. This authority is foundational to the church, and the disciples are sent in pairs to establish the truth of their testimony.
⚔️ Authority Over Unclean Spirits
Jesus gives the disciples authority over unclean spirits, a power that comes from the authority vested in them. This is a trial mission where the disciples will practice what they have learned. Miracles, such as casting out demons, serve to authenticate their divine commission, similar to how God authenticated Moses' mission with miracles before Pharaoh.
🎒 Instructions for the Journey
Jesus instructs the disciples to travel light, taking only a staff and wearing sandals, but no bag, bread, or money. This recalls the Passover readiness and emphasizes reliance on God's provision through the hospitality of those they visit. They are to stay in the first house that welcomes them and not seek better accommodations, maintaining integrity and focus on their mission.
🏡 Accepting Hospitality
The disciples are to accept the hospitality of the first house that receives them and not seek better accommodations elsewhere. This ensures their commitment and integrity. They are to depend entirely on God's provision through the generosity of others, not carrying extra food or money. This directive underscores their reliance on God and the importance of their mission.
⚖️ Judgment for Rejection
Jesus warns that those who reject the disciples will face severe judgment, more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for them. This emphasizes the gravity of rejecting the gospel. The shaking off of dust symbolizes God's judgment. Jesus speaks of a final judgment with varying degrees of punishment, stressing the serious consequences of rejecting the message of salvation.
🙏 The Mission and Call to Repentance
The disciples go out, preaching repentance, casting out demons, and healing the sick, reflecting Jesus' own ministry. This first apostolic mission sets the stage for their future work. The sermon concludes with a prayer, asking for a revival of the fear of God among the people, driving them to the cross for salvation.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Apostle
💡Repentance
💡Authority
💡Miracles
💡Hospitality
💡Judgment
💡Faith
💡Kingdom of God
💡Companionship
💡Testimony
Highlights
Jesus sends out the twelve disciples two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits and instructing them to take nothing for their journey except a staff and sandals.
He commands them to rely on the hospitality of those they encounter, emphasizing a complete dependence on God's provision.
Jesus stresses the importance of accepting the first offer of hospitality and remaining there, avoiding seeking better accommodations, which teaches humility and contentment.
Shaking the dust off their feet when not welcomed is a symbolic act of judgment, reflecting Old Testament practices and indicating the severity of rejecting the gospel.
Jesus highlights that rejecting his disciples and their message will result in a harsher judgment than that of Sodom and Gomorrah, underscoring the gravity of rejecting the gospel.
The power and authority given to the disciples mirror the authentication of God's messengers through miracles, as seen in both the Old and New Testaments.
The disciples' mission is described as a 'trial mission,' where they apply what they have learned and the power they have received from Jesus.
Jesus' call to 'come' and 'go' is a recurring theme, indicating that following him involves both receiving and being sent out to spread his message.
The distinction between disciples (learners) and apostles (sent ones) is explained, with apostles carrying the authority of Jesus to establish the church.
Miracles in the Bible serve to authenticate God's agents of revelation, with Jesus and his apostles performing miracles to validate their divine mission.
The concept of apostolic authority is emphasized, with apostles having the authority of Jesus to teach and lead the church.
The practice of relying on the hospitality of others during their mission reflects a deeper trust in God's provision and the generosity of the community.
Jesus' instructions to travel light and not take extra provisions align with the urgency and dependence seen in the Passover and Exodus narratives.
There is a principle of degrees in God's judgment, with greater severity for those who reject the gospel compared to those who never heard it.
The sermon concludes with a prayer for a renewed fear of God in the nation's soul, driving people to seek Jesus and avoid the final judgment.
Transcripts
well today we're going to get back to
the gospel according to saint mark
to the sixth chapter
and i will be reading from verse 7
through
verse 13 actually
and i'd ask the congregation to stand
for the reading of the word of god
and he called the twelve to himself
and began to send them out two by two
and gave them power over unclean
spirits he commanded them to take
nothing for the journey
except a staff no bag no bread
no copper in their money belts
but to wear sandals and not to put on
two tunics and also he said to them
in whatever place you enter a house
stay there till you depart from that
place
and 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
so they went out and preached that
people should repent
and they cast out many demons and
anointed with oil
many who were sick and healed them
you as ears to hear the word of god
let them hear please be seated
let us pray
oh lord we thank you so much
for this inspired record
of the ministry of jesus
at times we flatter ourselves thinking
that we know
all there is to know or surely
enough about him
until we are brought fresh to the pages
of the gospels
where our feeble knowledge
is exposed and we get new
glimpses of his person
the lord this morning show us more
of jesus that our order
affection and passion for him
might increase for we ask these things
in his name
in our last look at mark's narrative we
saw
the experience that jesus had when he
went back to his hometown of nazareth
and how he was greeted with hostility
and scorn and rejection
and then we read at the end of
verse 6 that he went about the villages
in a circuit teaching that is he left
nazareth and he returned to the
lake region of galilee to the northwest
shore of the sea of galilee
and now we have this mini record
of what we can call a trial
mission of the disciples up to this
point
the disciples had been learning they had
been being taught
from jesus about the kingdom of god
for the most part with respect to jesus
miracles
they were spectators they were students
and now he sends them on a mission
where they will try out what they have
learned
and what power they have received from
him
now what i read this morning is only the
beginning of that account
which in the middle of the full account
of the mission of the twelve
mark interjects the account of the
beheading of john the baptist
and other matters so that this morning
we'll just familiarize ourselves
with the beginning of this missionary
outreach of the disciples and we read in
verse 7
and he called the twelve to himself and
began
to send them out to by
do now there's something we don't want
to miss here
that before jesus sends anyone
anywhere first
he calls them and he had already called
each one of the 12
to be a student under his rabbinic
tutelage and now he calls them again to
assemble them
for a purpose he calls in order
to send and we don't want to miss that
because so many people love it when we
tell them that jesus says
come unto me all who are burdened and
heavy laden
and i will give you rest we like it when
jesus says
come to me but anytime you come to jesus
he say go ye
into all the world making disciples
of all nations and that
pattern of coming and going
of being invited of being summoned
and then being sent we see here
in this gospel account and so he began
to send them out
two by two two things i want to observe
in that
little clause first of all when it says
he began to send them the word that he
uses here
that mark uses is a variation of the
verb
form of apostleship
an apostle is one who
is sent apostolos
and we hear in the new testament about
disciples and apostles and we tend to
think that the two words are synonyms
they're not a disciple
is a learner a student an apostle
is one who is commissioned by the master
to whom the master designates
his own authority and that's critically
important for us because
the new testament tells us that the
foundation
of the church are the prophets and the
apostles
and the apostles have what we call
apostolic authority over the church of
all ages
because they're given that authority by
the one who sent them
and again i remind you we've been over
this before that the first
apostle in the new testament the apostle
par
excellence is whom
anyone who
jesus remember
jesus said i speak nothing on my own
authority but only that
which was given to me by the one who
sent me our lord himself
is the supreme apostle of the father
and he carries in his ministry nothing
less
than the authority of the father
and when jesus commissions men to be
apostles
he gives to them his own authority this
is very important particularly in this
day and age
where people are trying to tear the
bible into various parts and people i
hear it all the time say
well jesus i like but it's paul i can't
stand
paul the chauvinist who denigrates women
paul says nothing to us and to the
church
except by the authority of jesus christ
you don't like paul
you don't like jesus jesus himself said
those who receive you receive me
and if they reject you they reject me
you don't know anything about jesus
except what comes to us through the
testimony
of the apostle so it's a false dichotomy
to separate apostolic testimony
apostolic authority from the authority
of
christ now that's very important and
the church has to fight that battle in
every generation
but anyway he sent them out two by two
why two by two seems to me he would get
more mileage if he would send them
one by one and each one could go to a
separate village and you double
the missionary outreach but the two by
two
involves companionship it involves
partnership but it also harkens back to
the principle of the old testament
where something is established as true
if testimony is given to it
by two witnesses
and so jesus sent them out to testify to
him
to testify to the coming kingdom of god
and he sent them
by twos so that what one proclaims
the other verifies
and he gave them power
over unclean spirits
now the word there is the word we've run
into already
on more than one occasion it's the word
axusya
which sometimes is translated authority
other times it's translated power the
normal word for power
sheer power or force or might is the
greek word dunamis
from which we get the word dynamite
but here it's the power
that is contained within this authority
that jesus gives to them in this
trial mission this is not the final
commissioning
of the disciples to become apostles that
comes much later
but for this particular local
mission to which jesus sends them
he authorizes them
and he empowers them
a little bit earlier this morning i read
from the fourth chapter of
the book of exodus and you remember the
struggle
that moses had in that
situation where god had commanded him to
go to pharaoh
and say to pharaoh let my people go
israel is my son my firstborn son
and you've enslaved him i want you to
release him so that he can come to my
holy mountain
and worship me
you want me to go where you want me to
say what
you want me to tell the people
who are enslaved to follow me you want
me to tell pharaoh
to let them go it's like
moses is saying are you kidding me
lord nobody's going to believe me
you know i'm not an eloquent man
i'm slow of speech
and i have no intrinsic authority
who will listen to me
and what does god say to him
he said moses what's that stick you're
leaning on
he said throw that stick on the ground
when he throws the stick on the ground
it becomes a snake
moses jumps back he's fearful god says
just grab it by the tail and so he grabs
it by the tail and voila
it becomes the stick again
moe said wow i said
i'm not finished yet put your hand in
your bosom
puts his hand in his bosom pull it out
he pulls it out it's white as snow
covered with leprosy now moses
is terrified god said put it back he
puts it back brings his hand out
and it's like the rest of his flesh with
no sign
of disease finally he says take the
water throw it on the ground
it becomes blood
what's the purpose of that one of the
things that christians seem to
misunderstand more than anything else
is the purpose of miracles in the bible
the fundamental purpose of miracle both
in the old testament and the
new testament is to authenticate
agents of revelation
remember nicodemus came to jesus at
night and said teacher we know
you are a teacher sent from god
or else you wouldn't be able to do
the things that you do see god does not
empower demons to perform
authentic miracles they do lying and
counterfeit works but true
bona fide miracles are restricted in the
bible
to those whom god is placing his
seal of approval upon that's what's
going on with moses
when pharaoh won't believe you and i'm
going to harden his heart
turn that stick into the snake
the water in the blood
and you will demonstrate my power in
such a way that even
pharaoh will not be able to gain say
and the same thing happens with jesus
when he says if you see me
casting out satan by the finger of god
that is by the holy spirit
then you know that the kingdom of god
has come upon you
and so before he sends out the twelve
two by two
in this mission this teaching mission
he gives them power and authority
over the demonic realm
and so our lord imparts
his power to those who represent his
name
and teach his truth
and then he commanded them to take
nothing for the journey
except the staff no bag no bread no
copper in their money belts
but to wear sandals not to put on two
tunics what's this all about
well first of all jesus says you're
going to travel
light again this brings to mind
exodus and the passover
the night in which the children of
israel were commanded
to be ready at a moment's notice to
leave their homes to the summons of god
that they should be dressed to move
quickly
travel light no time to pack get up and
go
and now jesus does the same to his
disciples
when you go all you can take with you
is a staff now if you notice the other
gospel say
the other gospels say no staff so why do
the other gospels say no staff
and mark says take the staff well
there's a distinction here
you remember the equipment of the
shepherd in the old testament the 23rd
psalm
by rod and thy staff
they comfort me
the staff was the shepherd's crook which
also served as a
walking stick and if one of the sheep
wandered off he could just
hook him around the neck and bring him
back into the path
the rod was a weapon
a weapon of defense to attack against
an animal like a bear
or a lion or if a crook
came pardon the pun if a thief came to
rob the sheepfold
the shepherd would use that rod
to defend the sheep against
the robber and so
we don't have a conflict between mark
and the rest of the gospel jesus is
saying with him
you're not allowed to take your
powerful rod with you but you can't take
a walking stick
and incidentally in church history
the symbol for the bishop
has always been what the crook
of the shepherd not that bishops are
crooks but the
bishops bishops are supposed to be
shepherds and that's why that symbol
emerged in church history and jesus said
you can take that
but you can't be packing on this
journey
[Laughter]
all right and he said
no bag no bread no copper in their money
belts
no bag it's not no suitcase it means
no beggar's bag notice when we take up
the collection
every sunday morning we pass the bags
in order to collect the money for the
church
jesus when he sends out the 12 on this
occasion said no bags
you can't beg for money on this trip
you're going to have to depend on my
father
at every point of this mission
no bag no bread can't even take anything
to eat with you
no copper that means not the slightest
bit
of change small change even in your
purse
but wear sandals and do not put on
two tunics why no bread
because jesus says when you go to these
villages as soon as you enter into the
village
look for somebody who will house you
and feed you and grant you hospitality
it will be their burden to provide bread
for you
it will be their burden to provide
housing for you
you don't give that a thought you are to
concentrate
on your mission and we want you to be
free
from concerns about food and money and
housing
and notice this he says when you go into
the village
if somebody receives you into their home
you go into that home you accept their
hospitality for how long
as long as you're in the village now
what's that about
listen carefully what jesus is doing
here he's saying look
if when you enter the village some poor
person comes up and says i offer you my
humble abode
for your headquarters while you're
ministering here among us and you go
into that person's house
and you know that the accommodations are
spartan and then the next day
the wealthiest person in the village
said oh i didn't know you were coming
why don't you come over to my house i
have
grand quarters for you
too late you get a better offer
you don't take it i see this in the
ministry
all the time small church invites you to
speak
you accept the invitation you put it on
your calendar they put it on their
calendar and
three months later some big national
event comes along and said
marcy can you come speak at this
5 000 people are going to be in the
audience wonderful honorarium
what do you do say i'm sorry
i have a previous commitment
merchants do this all the time they say
i'll be over to your house to do such
and such a work for you it's a small job
but they make the appointment
and then they don't show up and they
don't show up because in the meantime
somebody gave them a better offer
so that we don't let our yay mean yay
and she said you go there and whoever
welcomes you you accept their
hospitality
for the duration
why not two tunics why does jesus said
you can only have one tunic
again in the ancient world people who
were travelers and had to stop
at the night where there was no in and
sleep outside the purpose of the second
tunic
was as a covering from the elements as
they slept
under the stars you said i'm not going
to let you sleep under the stars
you're going to be cared for by those
who host you
in the villages
and listen to this 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 there is
no such thing as
indifference to christ
you're either for him or you
are against him in the kingdom of god
beloved there
is no neutral ground
we have it in our culture today that if
we do evangelism
the standard technique that we do in
mass evangelism is after the sermon is
proclaimed
then we offer the invitation
as many as would like please come
we don't say as many who would like to
respond to christ come now and those who
don't want to respond to christ may go
to hell
we don't say that that would be
politically incorrectness with a
vengeance wouldn't it
but the gospel is a two-edged sword
if you receive it the benefit is eternal
life
if you reject it fully and finally
you do so to your everlasting peril
jesus said that when he came he brought
a crisis
into the world crisis is the greek word
for judgment
and he tells his disciples when you go
in there and they don't receive you
and they don't receive your teaching you
leave that town
but before you leave you shake the dust
off your feet
now that goes back to antiquity
to traveling jews who for business
reasons would go
to pagan countries to gentile
communities selling their wares or
whatever
and when they would come back home to
cross the border once again
into israel the rabbis required
that they literally shake the dust off
their feet
lest they bring the contamination
of the pagan community into israel
and that symbolized god's
judgment upon paganism
and so now jesus is sending these men to
the villages
of the jews and he says if they don't
hear you
you shake the dust off your feet just as
they shake the dust
off their feet that belongs to pagans
because
if they don't heed the preaching of the
gospel
even if they're jews they're pagans
that's the message here here's the scary
part
shake off the dust under your feet as a
testimony against them
for assuredly i say to you it will be
more tolerable for sodom and gomorrah
in the day of judgment
than for that city
now i have to confess that there's a
textual variant here and not all the
manuscripts of antiquity include this
extension of verse 11. but the
translators of the bible that i'm giving
to you
were convinced that the manuscript
evidence warranted including this in the
text some other day we'll talk about
textual
variants and so on but listen to what
jesus is saying
if there's a village here that doesn't
receive my disciples
they're going to have to answer for that
on the day of judgment
and i tell you with certainty
it's going to be more tolerable for
sodom and gomorrah
whom god destroyed with fire in the old
testament
then it will be on those villages now
there are a couple things we need to
learn from that friends
one is this is one of many many times
when jesus
talks about a last judgment
there will be a last judgment and every
last one of us
will have to appear at that last
judgment
also we need to see from this text
a principle that occurs at least 25
times
in the new testament that is
god's judgment on the last day of
judgment
will be a matter of degrees
there are degrees of sin
there are degrees of works of obedience
though our works carry no intrinsic
merit jesus at least 25 times tells us
that our reward in heaven will be
according to the measure
of obedience that we give in this life
paul warns the romans
the impenitent romans that they are
heaping
up piling up wrath against the day of
wrath
i don't know how many times i've heard
guys say well i've lusted i might as
well go ahead and do it
or i've committed this in once which
nothing's going to hurt me if i get
10 more oh every sin
will be brought into the judgment and
god's
justice will be perfect some will be
visited with many stripes some with few
stripes
and here we see in this text that there
is a greater judgment
given to these people who heard the very
apostles of jesus
then even the cities of sodom and
gomorrah would symbolize
the nader of human decadence
in the old testament so that if you
reject
christ your judgment will be worse
than the judgment god poured out
on sodom and gomorrah we don't believe
that we don't believe there is judgment
we don't believe in a god of wrath we
don't believe in a god of justice
and if there is a judgment you're either
in or you're out
and it doesn't make a difference how far
out you are i'll never forget
when my professor in seminary said the
sinner in hell
would give everything that he had
and do anything that he could
to make the number of his sins during
his lifetime
one less
now who talks like that today
no wonder people don't want to listen to
this book
no wonder people don't want to listen to
our lord jesus christ
but it was the lord jesus
who developed this theology
of scaring people if there ever was one
we need to be scared
of god we need to be scared of his wrath
because jesus saves from what
from the wrath that is to come
and so we have a a micro
picture of the history
of the mission of the church this little
trial
mission go to the little villages here
preach the kingdom of god
with my authority if they reject it
shake the dust off your feet
and consign those people to my father's
judgment
so they went out and they preached
that people should repent the same
message john the baptist preached
the same message jesus preached the
message that nobody wants to preach
today
that people must repent to enter
into the kingdom of god they cast out
many demons
they anointed with oil many who were
sick
and they healed them
that introduces this first apostolic
mission after we look at the
interludes that they're to come we'll
see
how this mission proceeded let's pray
father you have called us
you have sent us
we are not apostles but we are disciples
and we are to bear witness to you to
your gospel
to a dying world
but father there's no fear of thee
before the eyes of our people
we pray that you would awaken in the
souls of
the people of this nation a fear of you
that will drive them to the cross
and to jesus lest he
shake their dust from his feet
amen
you
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