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The duty and challenge of a missionary (Mk 6:7-13)
This passage contains Jesus’ charge for his twelve disciples concerning their duty and challenge as he sent them to preach the gospel.
(duty of the ministry)
The disciples are given power to:
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drive out unclean spirits (“gave them power over unclean spirits” v7; “they cast out many devils” v13);
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heal the sick (“anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them” v13);
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preach the gospel of repentance from sin (“preached that men should repent” v12)
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testify the ones who reject the faith (“whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them.” v11).
They are not required to teach due to their lack of biblical knowledge. Since they are given the power and authority to do the above tasks, they bear the responsibility to carry out the ministry entrusted by Jesus.
Today, we are given the Great Commission to preach and to teach (“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” Matt 28:19-20)(NRSV "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..."). For those who have the healing abilities, they can heal the sick as well as preach the gospel like Jesus. For those who have sufficient Bible knowledge, they can participate in the service of teaching others.
The twelve disciples use some special way to testify those who reject the gospel. This is in fact a proof that they have visited some homes and preached the gospel to the residents there but they rejected the gospel. For those who refused to hear the gospel, they have no part in the kingdom of heaven. Today, we are also given the authority to testify against those who reject the gospel. However, we have no need to take any concrete action to testify their unbelief, since we have no idea whether they will accept Christ in the end or not. All we can do is to preach the good news to them. It all depends on the faith of the hearers to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. So how can we testify who accepts the gospel or not? John 3:16 is the gospel of God granting eternal life to all who believe in his begotten Son. John 3:18 states the result of those who reject the gospel: “He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” In other words, it is their rejection that testifies their unbelief. Our job is to grant them an opportunity to accept or reject the gospel.
In Matt 16:19, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Virtually, Peter was not the only one receiving “the keys of the kingdom of heaven”. In Matt 18:18, Jesus repeated the same statement to all the twelve disciples: “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” So, all Jesus’ disciples are given “the keys of the kingdom of heaven”. They can “bind” or “loose” the hearers of the gospel. What does that mean? The rabbis of Jesus' day often spoke of binding and loosing in the sense of forbidding and permitting. Josephus, a Jewish historian in the first century, interpreted binding and loosing as punishing and absolving (forgiving).1 Jesus told the disciples similar word in John 20:23, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” Not that we can decide whether a person can go to heaven or hell. We only serve to provide the opportunity for the hearer to enter the kingdom of heaven. As we preach the gospel to them, we are to present them the ‘qualification’ of the forgiveness of their sins.
(living challenge)
As we carry out the duty of preaching the gospel, we are challenged to live a simple life, a life of trusting the all-providing God. Jesus “commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey” (v8). What can they bring with them? The disciples are allowed to take only a staff, sandals for walking and one coat that they are wearing. They are not allowed to bring food to eat, money to spend and even bag to collect any offering! (NRSV, ‘no bread, no bag, no money in their belts’ v8) They shall reside and eat from whomever is willing to provide them room and board. This is more or less the living challenge of a missionary today. Of course, there is some key difference with the way today’s missionaries are granted room and board. Some missionaries are granted sponsorship from the missionary organizations that send them out, while others seek sponsorship from individual supporters. In any case, they are supposed to live a simple life. They need to exercise faith to receive financial support for their living. At the same time, they are required to focus on their mission of soul-winning.
Why “send them forth by two and two” (v7)? Well, for one thing, the two can monitor one another and make sure that they strictly follow Jesus’ guidance. Secondly, two are better than one in the sense that their judgment is more correct. Although two persons have chance to raise disputes, they can compromise and resolve disputes through collective prayer. Jesus has such promise in Matt 18:19-20, “if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask (同心合意地求甚麼事), it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Not that the Lord will not be in our midst if we go preaching the gospel individually. At least the Great Commission does not say, “Go ye by two and two…and, lo, I am with you always.” It simply says, “Go ye therefore…and, lo, I am with you always.” (Matt 28:19-20) As mentioned above, our judgment tends to be more correct when two of us ask for something to be granted.
1 Source: Dr. Constable Expository (Bible Study) Notes
(http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/matthew.pdf)