Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 2 Study # 3
October 12, 2021
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(252)
1901 ASV
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" (8:22-26) in respect to the major obstacle to legitimate representation of Jesus (unbelief driven by false loves).
- B. This paragraph as the backdrop to the "danger" (Jesus insisting that His disciples go forth without any "provisions" so that they might learn that He is their "Provisioner").
- C. Mark's continuing record of Jesus' commission of The Twelve.
- 1. His restrictions upon The Twelve as they "went out...".
- 2. His further instructions.
- a. Come on the heels of giving them authority over the unclean spirits and instructing them to go forth without making preparations (gathering up provisions) for their future (anticipated) needs. [Illustration from personal history in seeking to make provisions for schooling and then not having those provisions.]
- b. Consist of two particulars.
- 1) "He was saying..." (lego in the imperfect tense and indicative mood): "Where if you should enter into a house, remain (meno in the present tense and imperative mood) there until you should depart from there."
- a) This is related to the restriction regarding taking two tunics (you will be offered hospitality).
- b) It's focus is upon "not moving from house to house".
- i. This would automatically mean that those in that house were going to be given
- a more extensive exposure to the message than the rest of the village/town.
- ii. The idea that they might want to move to a different "host" implies that they might run into some less-than-pleasant circumstances in the house that they enter.
- iii. The restriction strongly implies, first, that the One who provided you with a host home so that you did not need an extra tunic was in charge of where you would "abide", and, second, that where He wished you to "abide" was where He wished to make the strongest impact.
- iv. If a more extensive exposure produced a welcomed understanding, that "house" would, invariably, become a kind of "seed" in the community that would sprout and grow so as to maintain the "message" in that place (for future fruit). [After Pentecost, more than 5,000 people were drawn into the Church as if by magic: whence did those 5,000 come?]
- 2) "And if that place should not receive you nor should hear from you, as you go forth from there, shake off the dirt which is under your feet for a witness to them."
- a) There is no instruction for what to do if that place "received" their message.
- b) This further instruction was in respect to the possibility that their message would not be well received. Luke 10:3-12 gives a more detailed account of Jesus' instruction so that we might more easily understand what was anticipated by Jesus.
- c) This instruction was to present a strongly negative witness to those in that town/ village. The further implication was in regard to the "majority response", not specific, individual responses. Again, Luke's record makes it very clear that the reaction of the village/town was going to have heavy duty repercussions into eternity.
