HE BEGAN TO SEND THE TWELVE OUT

Mark 6:6b-13

Key Verse 6:7

Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

Introduction

Our Lord Jesus was rejected by his hometown people. Jesus was amazed by their rejection and it must have been very painful. Jesus was rejected not only by his hometown people but also by men again and again. He was despised and rejected by men and became a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Jesus is rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious to him. When we are rejected by unbelieving people, we should not become shaky. Instead, we must remember that Jesus who was rejected by men and was killed was raised to life on the third day and became the Savior and Judge of all. When we look at God’s work from a human point of view rather than with the eyes of faith, we cannot continue to serve Him. May the Lord help us to fix our eyes on Jesus and be faithful to our mission.

1. Read verses 6b-7. What did Jesus do after he witnessed such a lack of faith in His hometown? (6) Why might Jesus have sent out the Twelve? Why two by two? What did He give them? (7)

1-1, Read verses 6b-7.

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

1-2, What did Jesus do after he witnessed such a lack of faith in His hometown? (6)

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

• After being rejected by his hometown people, Jesus did not despair over the rejection. He continued on with his mission. He went around teaching the gospel from village to village.

• When Apostle Paul was rejected by his own people, he did not despair. He told them that they had rejected the gospel and had not considered themselves worthy of eternal life and therefore he decided to turn to the Gentiles. (Ac 13:46)

• There are those who have a spiritual desire and there are those who do not. Some want to study the word of God and live by faith, but others do not.

• God continues his redemptive work through those who want to know the truth and commit themselves to him.

• When we are rejected by people, we must not despair. We must not dwell on the rejection. We must remember Jesus who moved on with his mission.

• We must move on with the assurance that there are the remnants of God who have a spiritual desire and want to grow in their faith.

1-3, Why might Jesus have sent out the Twelve?

7 Calling the Twelve to him,

• Though rejected by most of the people in the town of Nazareth, Jesus did not end His mission in Galilee. Instead, there is a real sense in which He extended it.

• When the Twelve and Jesus ministered side by side, they could preach the gospel in only one locale at a time. By sending the disciples out to minister, Christ made it possible to reach many different places at the same time.

1-4, Why two by two?

he began to send them out two by two

• Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10 says, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” Two is better than one.

• Jesus also sent them out two by two so that they might learn how to work with each other. A fruitful ministry comes when two are united into one spiritual vessel.

• Jesus says that if two of us on earth agree about anything we ask for, it will be done for us by God. (Mt 18:19) God blesses co-working.

• May Jesus send us out two by two to LBCC and CSULB and other campuses and enable us to invite God’s precious flock.

1-5, What did He give them? (7)

and gave them authority over impure spirits.

• Jesus sent them with the right to speak in His name. On that day, Jewish leaders and teachers could send out representatives who had the authority of the sender.

• That was the kind of authority our Lord gave them for their mission. Jesus sent out His representatives who had the same authority that Jesus had as the commissioner.

• Thus, the preaching mission foreshadows the great works of the coming period of the Christian church in the book of Acts.

1. Read verses 8-11. What instructions did Jesus give to the disciples? Describe the underlying reasons for each instruction? What can we learn from Jesus who gave these strict instructions?

2-1, Read verses 8-11.

8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

2-2, What instructions did Jesus give to the disciples?

These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

2-3, Describe the underlying reasons for each instruction?

“Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.

• It appears to be a mission impossible. In order to go out for an evangelistic journey, at least they must carry minimum needs. But Jesus said, “Take nothing for the journey except a staff.”

• Jesus wanted them to depend on God absolutely; Jesus wanted them to depend on God for their needs.

• Normally as human beings, we rely on what we have, not on God. When we are put in an adverse situation and without much, we can learn simply to rely and depend on God, our Heavenly Father. Then we can become powerful and fruitful.

• In the history of God’s work at UBF, we can see this. God has used a poor nation like Korea to be a missionary sending nation to the world.

• Because they had the heart to obey, God began to use them to bring his gospel to the world. This is because they depended on God alone.

10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

• Our Lord Jesus also instructed his disciples not to compromise. We should not be afraid of people. We must fear God and have absolute faith in the gospel of Jesus.

• If we are asked to compromise gospel faith, we must shake the dust off our shoes and leave them alone as a testimony against them.

• We must believe that when we go out fishing that we are God’s servants. We must believe that the gospel we proclaim is absolute.

• Those who believe will be saved, while those who reject the gospel will be condemned. Those who hear the gospel message are responsible when they hear it before God.

2-4, What can we learn from Jesus who gave these strict instructions?

• Jesus was teaching them to keep focusing on their mission by simplifying their lives. They can go out by absolute faith in the Lord God.

• We must also continue to seek those who are searching and ready to believe. If you’ve ever been fishing, you know how sweet it is to find the hot spot, the place where all the fish are hovering around.

• We have to keep moving to be as productive as possible. There is a sense of urgency in the way Jesus is sending the Twelve out.

• Let’s have the same sense of urgency in getting the gospel out to those who are ready to hear it and believe.

1. Read verses 12-13. How did the Twelve respond to Jesus? (12a) What did they preach? (12b) What else did they do? (13) What wisdom can we learn from Jesus in serving God’s ministry?

3-1, Read verses 12-13.

They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

3-2, How did the Twelve respond to Jesus? (12a)

12 They went out

• They obeyed Jesus and followed His words of instructions. Thank God for their humble attitude as Jesus’ disciples.

• It reminds us of John 17:6-9. “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those, you have given me, for they are yours.

3-3, What did they preach? (12b)

and preached that people should repent.

• Jesus preached the message of repentance in Mark 1:15, “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

• As Christians we want to be nice. However, the way we make a difference is by preaching repentance as it is the only way to forgiveness.

• Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). We didn’t experience the power of God until we realized that we too were sinners in need of repentance.

• Repentance isn’t just recognizing that we are sinners and then saying sorry. It means renouncing our old life and embracing a new life filled with hope, purpose, and direction. God gave us new purpose and real joy in doing the work of God.

3-4, What else did they do? (13)

13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

• An amazing thing happened through the disciples’ evangelistic journey. When they went out and preached that people should repent, people repented, beating their chests and crying.

• The disciples drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

3-5, What wisdom can we learn from Jesus in serving God’s ministry?

• There is a clear order. Preaching with the message of repentance and driving out many demons and healing and anointing.

• We are not social workers or humanitarian workers based on our good intention. Rather we are engaged in the battle between light and darkness.

• So to do get this job done properly we must be anointed by Jesus to have the power and authority of the word of God when we teach the Bible one-to-one.

• We must know that we are weak, but that God is strong. When we are clothed with God’s power and authority, people repent.

• We can even drive out many demons and heal the sick. Even though we live in a godless society, we should be Jesus’ disciples and learn from Jesus how to be disciple-makers.

• So we should pray that God may give us repentance and courage to teach repentance and forgiveness to our one to one Bible students.

Conclusion

Jesus sent out his disciples for fieldwork training and Jesus trained them to depend on the power of God and his word only so that they might be his witnesses anytime, anywhere and anyhow. Therefore, we must depend on God only and preach the gospel faithfully. When we depend on God only, God will empower us to accomplish the vision of evangelizing the whole world in our generation. Our ministry is a disciple-making ministry. May God continue to bless our ministry as a disciple-making and sending ministry.

One word: Jesus sent the Twelve out by two by two!

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