This passage marks a significant transition in the ministry of Jesus Christ.  He has been preaching the gospel of the kingdom for about 2 years now.  He has called twelve disciples to be with Him, to follow Him, to learn from Him.  But up to now, He was the only one to preach, to heal, to perform miracles.  John the Baptist was another preacher sent as a prophet of God, but he has been arrested, and as Mark tells us in this passage, he has been put to death.  So Jesus is the only one preaching and doing the ministry of the gospel, and meanwhle the disciples have been learning.

Now two years into His ministry there is a transition. Jesus commissions the disciples to spread out over Galilee and acting as His representatives, do as He had been doing.  Mark says Jesus calls the twelve to Himself.  There were many disciples, followers of Jesus, but the 12 were called to be His special ambassadors, HIs apostles.  And for the first time in scripture, Mark calls these men apostles in vs 30.  The 12 apostles is a special office for a particular group of men. Other people were able to be apostles in a lesser sense of being sent ones, that’s the literal meaning of the word apostles, as missionaries for instance.   But Jesus’s 12 apostles was a one time office, for a particular time and for a particular ministry.  Some people are misinformed today in thinking that the Lord still appoints apostles in our day.  That office was for a particular time a place.  They were men that had been with the Lord, that were to be witnesses of His resurrection. (Acts 1:22)

So these men had been learning from the Lord as part of His inner circle for about two years.  And now it’s time for them to be sent out as emissaries of Christ, as representatives of Christ, to go through the regions of Galilee and proclaim the gospel of Christ.  It’s a short term mission trip, if you will.  A time when the ministry will be expanded through multiplication of 6 pairs of evangelists. It’s also still a part of their learning phase, of their ministerial education, where they will begin to practice the things that they have learning.

Notice then some things at the outset.  As I said, He summoned the twelve.  This is a special assignment, a special empowerment, for the twelve apostles. This is not a ministry model for the church today, other than in a general sense. We are not given the same commission as the disciples were here.  Neither are we given the same authority and power.  This is the commissioning of the apostles.

Notice next, the method of their ministry.  Jesus sent them out in pairs.  I think this is just a practical thing. I don’t think there is some spiritual dimension to being sent in pairs, other than the law required the testimony of two or three witnesses to confirm a fact.  But it does seem to be a model that continues during the apostolic age, as they took the gospel to the world following Jesus’s resurrection and ascension into heaven.  We see Peter and John work together in the early part of Acts.  Paul and Barnabas.  Paul and Silas, Barnabas and Mark.  But I don’t think it was an absolute necessity as time went on that there must always be two apostles going together on a mission trip. But I think it was just practical.  Two can be a help to one another, they can be a comfort to one another, strength for one another.  Ministry, especially missionary work or evangelistic work can be a lonely business. So there were 6 groups of apostles fanning out over Galilee to preach the gospel.

And then notice in vs 6, He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. In the parallel passage in Matthew 10:1 it says, “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”

This is a passage that is often misunderstood.  A lot of charismatics like to appropriate these verses as justification for their ministry and use it as a proof text for their supposed healing ministries.  But it was intended only for these apostles. There was a need for these men to have this power.  Because it validated that they were speaking and acting on behalf of God. 

Whoever can heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead, is from God. Those are the validating signs. Sermons and signs – they were given sermons that Jesus had preached, and they were able to do the signs that Jesus had done. In fact, they could heal the sick; Luke 9 says they were able to heal the sick, in addition to cast out demons, and here, in verse 12 and 13, it tells us they did that. Matthew 10:8 says they were told to raise the dead. So, they were delegated the same power over disease, over demons, and over death, that Jesus had exhibited.

Paul says in 2Cor. 12:12 “Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.” Those were the signs of a true apostle.  It’s not the sign of a pastor of a church. It’s not the signs of a television evangelist.  I wish I had the power to heal. But God has not given me that power. It’s not a matter of faith on my part. Of not having enough faith to do miracles. It’s that I have not been given the authority to do them as Jesus gave the disciples. But so that people would know that these men represented Christ, He gave them the same power to heal and do miracles that He had, in order to validate that their message was from God.

And that’s important because none of these men came from the religious establishment. None of them was a Pharisee, a scribe, a rabbi, or a priest. None of them was a temple attendant. No one was a ruler of a synagogue. They were completely outside the religious establishment.  But these men were to be the nucleus of the new Israel, which is the church,  in contrast to the Israel of the old dispensation which was represented by the 12 patriarchs. The apostles will be the foundation of the church, which is the true chosen people of God.

Eph. 2:19-22 says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,  having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner [stone,]  in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,  in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

Now it’s important to understand that the confirming signs were given to them to support their message.  But the message of the gospel was their primary concern.  That’s their primary purpose, to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. In Luke 9:2, it says, “And He sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God.”

The gospel is the gospel of salvation.  That’s our primary purpose, to proclaim the gospel of salvation.  We don’t preach that too much today in our churches.  We preach about  relationships.  We preach a social gospel. We preach how to be successful and happy.  We preach anything but the gospel of salvation.  But notice in vs 12, the apostles went out and preached that men should repent.

That’s the beginning of the gospel. The good news is predicated upon bad news.  The bad news is that man is a sinner, under the condemnation of death. And you must repent of your sins that you might receive forgiveness. And you must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

So the preaching of the gospel is the primary ministry of the apostles.  The healings and casting out demons and other miracles are attesting signs of an apostle, that they are speaking on behalf of the Lord.  He gives them His authority to cast out demons and heal the sick.

And then notice the means of their ministry. Vs 8 “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.”  I think something has been lost in translation here, and though I am not a Greek scholar, I can tell you that there are some minor differences between the various gospel writers on this account.  I don’t think it’s a big deal.  Rather than approaching conflicting texts by saying we must chose this one or that one, I think it’s possible to say that both are correct.  

So we can assume that what Jesus probably said was “do not take along an extra pair of sandals, or staff, or an extra tunic,  nor take a money bag, nor any provisions for your journey.” The Lord wanted them to be totally dependent upon Him for their ministry and totally dependent upon His provision for their physical needs, which would be provided through the people that would receive the gospel.

Now this statement does not literally apply to ministers today.  God isn’t saying that ministers need to take a vow of poverty. That we can’t have but one set of clothes or one pair of shoes.  But the principle does still apply today.  We are to be dependent upon God’s supply through His people.  That the Lord will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.  He supplies the message of the gospel, He supplies the word of God, He supplies the power over demonic forces, and He will supply the physical needs as well for those who are acting as His ministers.

He applies that principle even to their living arrangements. Vs 10, “And He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.’”  It was the duty of those who believed the gospel to be hospitable, to share, to welcome strangers.  And Jesus wanted the disciples to be grateful for that hospitality, and reward their hospitality, and not be looking for a better house, or more wealthy people to stay with and be jumping from house to house.  There is a danger in patronage which can result in the preacher modifying his message to accommodate the wealthy patron. That happened frequently in the Middle Ages as wealthy nobles patronized the church and built a building and supported the pastor and as a result they were able to adulterate the gospel to their liking. So perhaps that’s the danger that Jesus is attempting to prevent.

But the most important part of the mission was to preach the gospel.  Those who received it, they were to stay with them and minister to them until they  left town.  But not everyone received the gospel.  There would be many who do not believe the gospel.  And among the Jews, Jesus knew that some towns would not be receptive.  For those people Jesus prescribed a judgment to be delivered by the apostles.  

Vs. 11 “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.”  When the Jews traveled through Gentile territory, they had a practice of shaking the dust off their feet before entering their homeland again.  The idea was that they wanted no polluting dust from the pagan lands to be carried into Israel inadvertently. 

Jesus is saying that unbelief of the gospel on the part of the Jews should be treated the same way. You will remember that Paul and Barnabas did the same thing when persecution was organized against them in the Jewish region of Antioch.  It’s as if to say, your blood be upon your own hands.  Your guilt is yours alone, you have heard the gospel and rejected it, and so the consequences are of your own doing.  It’s as John 3:18 says,  “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”  So the disciples shaking the dust off their feet were giving testimony as a sign of God’s judgment upon their unbelief.

So after being commissioned, the disciples did what they were told to do. They were obedient to their call and commission.  That’s important for us to see.  There are a lot of people who are commissioned to proclaim the gospel, but very few are obedient to that call. Or, there are a lot of people that alter their commission to suit their tastes, and attempt to pander to the culture.  But the apostles were obedient and faithful to their commission.  

Vs12  “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.”  You know Paul gave a commission to Timothy and the pastors that he would establish in the churches, and which I feel God used to call me into the ministry.  Paul said in 2Tim. 4:2-5 “preach the word; be ready in season [and] out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but [wanting] to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.  But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

The minister’s job is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, to preach the word accurately and completely, that’s sound doctrine, and preach it when it’s accepted and when it’s not accepted. The pastor’s responsibility is not to alter the gospel according to the culture.  His responsibility is not whether  it is received or rejected. His job is to faithfully sow the seed.  And God will take care of the increase and of the harvest.

In the case of the apostle’s ministry, they preached that men should repent.  The word there could also be interpreted as converted. Repentance is essential to conversion.  It means a change of heart, a change of direction, a realization of going in the wrong direction, and then going in the right direction. 

I think the problem with the Christian church today is that it is populated by people that are not converted.  They have not been changed.  My wife is in Italy right now taking a well deserved vacation with my daughter.  But before she went over there, we took some US Dollars to the bank and had it converted to Euros.  Because in Italy they don’t use US dollars.  They use Euros. A conversion means a change.  A change of heart, a change of life, a change of direction. And only God can change your heart.  You need to be forgiven, you need  a new life, and that can only happen when Jesus transforms you. You can be religious and not be converted.  You can go to church and not be converted. But let me tell you this, you will not enter into heaven unless you are converted.  Call upon the Lord to save you, to convert you, to change you, to give you new life.

So the apostles were successful in their mission trip.  Mark says many demons were cast out and many people were healed.  In chapter 9:18 it’s evident that the disciples were not always successful at expelling evil spirits. Apart from the power of God they were powerless.  And by the way, there isn’t some magical power in anointing people with oil either.  It was probably good old olive oil that they anointed people with. Olive oil is supposedly really good for you, but it won’t heal you of a leprosy or being paralyzed or lame. There is no magical power in putting a drop of olive oil on someone’s head. In those days oil was often used as a medicine, as you might remember from the story of the good Samaritan. But the best way to understand the use of it here is that it was a symbol of the power of the Spirit of Christ who had commissioned them to heal.

So then let’s skip down to vs 30, which was some time later.  Not sure exactly how long they were on their mission trip, but it could have been as long as a couple of months.  They come back, some weeks or months later, and verse 30 says, “The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.” They were told to do two things – preach the gospel, and demonstrate the power of Christ – so they came back and said, “This is what we preached, and this is what happened through the power that was delegated to us.” 

And the Lord commended them to a time of rest. Ministry is hard work.  And even for Jesus we see Him needing rest, and periodically taking the disciples apart from the crowds and the ministry for rest.  There is a rest that we have continually in ministry if we are doing it as He commissioned us to do it.  And that rest comes from knowing that the power and authority and method of our ministry is from the Lord.  He causes the increase.  He builds His church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.  There is a rest in doing ministry God’s way, knowing that the power and the means to do it come from Him.