The First Unaccompanied Mission Tour
Mark 6:7-13, 30
Jesus had been teaching the gospel of the Kingdom to the disciples for some time. They had learned some things and would need to learn a lot more and the power of the Holy Spirit before they were ready to go out on their own. But part of the learning process includes practicing what they were going to do later. Seminary students today do they same thing when they are in supervised ministry. At times the students are let out on their own and later report back with their mentor about the experience. In this, they are following the method that Jesus Himself used.
Part of Jesus’ ministry was showing His authority over demons and unclean spirits. This was a demonstration of the power of the Kingdom. The disciple was to be in every way like the master. If the master had authority over unclean spirits, so must the disciples. Obviously, no human being in their own power and authority is able to bind demons, except Jesus, or course because Jesus was also the Son of God. This authority had to be given to them. This would have been by a temporary granting of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had the authority in Himself, yet He was led by the same Holy Spirit, and by the Spirit cast out demons. This shows that the disciples had the Spirit before Pentecost, at least in measure, and for a season. They could not go out on the mission without it.
Matthew gives much more detail about the commissioning sermon than Mark. A lot of what Jesus tells them in Matthew seems to fit the rejection they would face after Pentecost. Jesus was a good teacher in that even though He gave instructions for the mission at hand, He also gave instruction for the future mission of the Apostles in which they would have to give account even before Gentile kings. Mark only gives the detail concerning the immediate mission at hand. They were to put on sandals, not take money, etc. They were told to stay in place at the first place they lodged in a town, If the message was accepted, well and good. But if not, judgment was to be pronounced. The dust was to be shaken off their feet, and their judgment would be even worse than Sodom and Gomorrah.
But one would be mistaken if one thinks Mark is less concerned about the rejection the disciples would face. The Holy Spirit just said the same thing through Mark in a different way. This is seen in the text sequence of chapter six. It begins with the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth. Although Luke records that they wanted to stone Jesus after throwing Him from the brow of an embankment. But rejected Jesus was, and that by the people who knew Him the best. Jesus is shown first to be rejected by His own brothers, sisters, and perhaps even his own mother as being insane. Then in the just mentioned passage, Jesus is rejected by the rest of His kinfolk. Then He would be rejected by the nation of Israel, His own people. So the immediate context of this mission trip was the rejection of Jesus.
This is not all, the report of how the mission trip is interrupted by a passage on the death of John the Baptist which is sandwiched in-between. Those who proclaim the truth will meet the same fate that John did. Mark uses this sandwich technique on several occasions such as the healing of the woman with the issue of blood is sandwiched in the middle of the story about the raising of Jairus’ daughter. As far as interpretation is concerned, there is something about the woman with the issue of blood which gives light to the story of the raising of Jairus’ daughter. He also inserts the parable of the fig tree around the cleansing of the Temple. The parable of the fig tree in this case says something about the future of the Temple.
So what does the insertion of the death of John the Baptist tell us about the mission of the disciples? As has been shown, it emphasizes the rejection of the message that the disciples would preach. The rejection of the master says so. Jesus mentions they would be rejected in some place directly. And finally, the example of John the Baptist shows that this fate potentially awaits all who will speak the true message of God.
What is the message which will be rejected. Well john proclaimed a gospel of repentance from sin and believing the good news, that the Messiah and his Kingdom were at hand. Jesus proclaimed: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” What did the disciples preach here? It says the disciples were to preach that people should repent. So it is clear that the proclamation of the gospel begins with repentance. It is just this call to repentance which is so dangerous and leads to rejection. Yet it is most necessary.
This first practice tour seems to have gone well on all accounts. The disciples were excited. Apparently they were most excited at the power they had over demons. Jesus in his evaluation told them they missed the bigger point, that their names were written in the Book of Life. Of course, this is a big mistake many make today, especially in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles. They get all proud like they possess this power in themselves instead of remembering that the giving of the Holy Spirit is agift. We all need to be corrected of this assumption.
We also need to disavow ourselves of the idea that because things go well, that the mission is a success and when things go poorly, a failure. Jesus had to warn His disciples to be on guard when everyone speaks well of the preaching as they also spoke well of the false prophets. Jeremiah, on the other hand preached repentance and suffered massive rejection. If he could have gotten one person to repent, Jerusalem would have been spared. So Jeremiah preached for years and years, rejected, imprisoned with the intent that Jeremiah would starve and die in a muddy dungeon. The final indignity is that he got dragged off to Egypt. Even the Hebrew word for Egypt means “land of graves.” Jeremiah died there, a rejected man. Who is recorded as having been faithful to the LORD?
Rejection would also come from the hands of the Gentiles also. It would not happen on this particular trip as Jesus only sent them to Jewish towns, but most Gentiles like most Jews would reject the gospel. The Gentile is no more a believer than the Jew. It is only by the grace and calling of God that any are saved at all. Yet we must suffer this indignity because we must take up our own cross and follow Jesus if we are to be His disciples. We too need the power of the Holy Spirit if we are able to stand.
The good news is that despite the rejection of many, some will believe and be saved. We shall not suffer a fruitless ministry like that of Jeremiah so long as we are faithful to the gospel. And the beginning of preaching is the preaching of repentance. Without preaching repentance, the church fares no better than the Jerusalem Temple. It might be beautiful to behold. It might be full of “worshipers” It is the fig tree with pretty leaves but no fruit. In the end, Sodom and Gomorrah were beautiful cities on the outside, but where are they now? What happened to the Jerusalem Temple? It was beautiful and was a wonder to the world. Yet every stone was overthrown with the City of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans.
When we look around today, a lot of the mainline downtown churches look more like tombs than churches. They decided they had a better gospel than the one Jesus Himself preached. Those churches which aren’t dead are at death’s door. But if a church will be faithful to the Gospel it will see increase, but as Jesus noted an increasing family AND persecutions. We need ministers who will come to these temples of death and dare to proclaim repentance. Repent! Why should you die, O Israel!” Hear the word of God! Believe and live! Jesus is risen! Rise with Him from the dead. Hear His voice and emerge from your grave. What Jesus offers to the faithful is far greater than the persecutions we shall certainly experience if we are faithful. People in the world reject one another every day, sometimes for the most petty of reasons. If you are going to be rejected anyway, is it not better that you are getting rejected for something that actually matters. People are walking away from the church cemeteries. They gospel has been compromised to the point that no one wants what the compromised church offers.
So let us take courage and follow the LORD. The entire world is also dying in hopeless despair. The gospel of self-help has failed. The gospel that mankind can fix its own problems without God has failed. There is the impending fear of death of culture. The world has a doomsday clock which they say is a few minutes from midnight. They know the end is near, and they have not found their self-made Messiah. That is because Jesus has already come and is coming again for a prepared people. If you reject Him, you have rejected everything.
