Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 2 Study # 1
August 3, 2021
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(248)
1901 ASV
6:6b And he went round about the villages teaching.
6:7 And he calleth unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits;
6:8 and he charged them that they should take nothing for [their] journey, save a staff only; no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse;
6:9 but [to go] shod with sandals: and, [said he], put not on two coats.
6:10 And he said unto them, Wheresoever ye enter into a house, there abide till ye depart thence.
6:11 And whatsoever place shall not receive you, and they hear you not, as ye go forth thence, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony unto them.
6:12 And they went out, and preached that [men] should repent.
6:13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
- I. The Beginning Of Mark's Record Of The "Sending Forth Of The Disciples".
- A. This second part of the first major sub-section of Mark's Gospel is a presentation of the danger that is involved in being a "sent forth disciple": the blindness of "sent forth disciples" in respect to the major obstacle to legitimate representation of Jesus.
- 1. This blindness is pictured at the end of this section of Mark's Gospel by Jesus' odd, two-stage healing of a blind man, who represents the disciples in their danger/blindness.
- 2. It is an indescribably great privilege to be an instrument of revelation in the stead of Jesus; but the danger is almost as great as the privilege.
- B. This paragraph as the backdrop to the "danger".
- 1. The over-all concept of this paragraph: the success of the "sent forth disciples" as representatives of Jesus.
- 2. The impact of "success" upon those "sent forth": the pernicious, gradual, assumption of a personal growth in the power of their commission.
- a. As long as "representatives of Jesus" cling to the truth of their commission (that their ability to adequately represent Him comes from Him), they can remain in the safety of His provision.
- b. But, if those "representatives" gradually begin to think that they are the root of their abilities, they will abandon faith and walk into the darkness of self-deceit and delusion.
- C. Mark's opening words.
- 1. Jesus "was going around [to] the villages teaching".
- a. According to the first record of Jesus' "ministry" after acquiring "disciples", He was "teaching" in the synagogue.
- b. According to the outcome of that "teaching", as recorded in 1:38, this was Jesus' purpose for being sent forth.
- 1) This statement is given as the original "pattern" for those whom He would "send forth" as He had been "sent forth".
- 2) This statement is given with the backdrop of "being sought after by men". This is the seminal form of "the great conflict of motivations" involved in "teaching others". Will the teaching be "for" the benefit of the taught, or will it be "for" the gratification of the teacher's lust for popularity and/or recognition by the taught of the greatness of "the teacher"?
- 2. Mark then says, "He is calling The Twelve" and "He began to send them forth".
- a. The present tense of the verb translated "summoned" draws upon 3:13 and its record of Jesus' creation of "The Twelve".
- 1) This is the same word used in 3:13: a deliberate attempt by Mark to point us back to that event.
- 2) The next use is 3:23 and the use of an unidentified "them", coupled to the verb under our consideration, is at least a "suggestion" that Jesus responded to the edict from Jerusalem by "summoning them" (calling The Twelve to Himself) and showing to "them" [The Twelve] the illogic of the edict from Jerusalem.
- 3) And the next use in our current text; strongly linking 3:13 and 3:23 to 6:7.
- 4) There are six further uses of this verb by Mark and all but one indicate that Jesus "calls to Himself -- apart from the religious leaders" a group to which He seeks to give an understanding that will fortify their faith in Him in the face of the opposition (7:14; 8:1; 8:34; 10:42; 12:43; and 15:44, which is the "one" exception", but is used in harmony with the rest).
- 5) This "summons" is restricted to The Twelve: He did not "give" authority to be His representatives to any others, and we must be clear that this text does not have any direct application to general members of the later developed "Church". In other words, the "apostles" [The Twelve] were the only ones given this authority.
- 6) This particular verb is only used outside of the Gospels and Acts in one letter of the New Testament (James 5:14).
- b. The aorist tense of the verb translated "began" indicates an initial action that strongly implies "more to come" in respect to "sending forth".
- 3. Mark says that Jesus "sent" The Twelve "two by two" and that He "gave them authority over the spirits which were unclean".
- a. This was to empower His representatives to "represent" Him as to His "authority" as The Christ.
- b. There was no stated limitation of this authority (which becomes an issue later in 9:18).
- c. Though 6:13 indicates that they also were healing many of the enfeebled, the focus in the commission was upon "authority over spirits which were unclean".
- 1) This focus, like the focus upon "being popular", is upon "being exalted" over "unclean spirits" by being given greater "authority". This had to make the unclean spirits writhe with the humiliation of being subjected to humans, and intensify their rage against Jesus.
- 2) But this "exaltation" over powerful spirits also made the disciples highly susceptible to the temptation to think too highly of themselves (Luke 10:17-20).
- 3) It is interesting that Mark omitted that part of Jesus' "commission" of them that had to do with "healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness" (Matthew 10:1) that included the ability to "raise the dead" (Matthew 10:8), though I know of no record of their exercise of that ability.
- a) This omission signals the superiority of the argument that he that can cast out demons/unclean spirits is "Mighty"; the realm of "spirits" is far greater than that of "flesh".
- b) It is no small thing to be able to heal even to the point of raising a dead person, but to be able to command a "spirit" and have "obedience" no matter how great is the reluctance that is in that spirit, is a greater demonstration of "Might".