TEXT [Commentary]

D. Challenge, Misunderstanding, and Confession (6:6b–8:26)

1. The Twelve are sent out (6:6b-13; cf. Luke 9:1-6)

6b Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. 7 And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil[*] spirits. 8 He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money.[*] 9 He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

10 “Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. 11 But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

12 So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. 13 And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.

NOTES

6:7 authority to cast out evil spirits. Now Jesus extended his authority over demons to the Twelve. Despite opposition, the mission expanded awareness of the message. The issue of authority is important to Mark (1:22, 27; 2:10; 11:27-33). Traveling in pairs was common in Judaism (Luke 7:18; John 1:37).

6:8 take nothing. Jesus urged them to travel in a way that expressed both the urgency and the itinerant nature of their work.

no traveler’s bag. Beggars and itinerant philosophers who sought donations often used this bag to collect money (Diogenes Laertius 6.13, 22; Gundry 1993:309 works through the background in detail and notes Jesus’ action is distinct). Jesus forbade its use on this trip.

no money. This money was in copper coins.

6:9 change of clothes. This is lit. “two tunics,” representing the luxury of a change of clothes (Taylor 1966:305). This explains the NLT rendering. The outer garment often functioned as a bedroll for poor people (Hurtado 1989:93, 97), so the point is that they were to trust God for every aspect of their care.

6:11 shake its dust from your feet. Culturally, this act meant that the “unclean” state of the town (for rejecting those whom God had sent) was no longer attached to the feet of the messengers (Matt 10:14; Mark 6:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6; cf. Neh 5:13).

to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate. This expanded rendering of the more ambiguous Gr. (“as a testimony against them”) gives the symbolic meaning of the act. It also symbolized dissociation from someone.

6:12 repent. This key term for response to the Gospel is used in many synoptic texts (Matt 3:2; 4:17; 11:20-21; 12:41; Mark 1:15; Luke 13:3, 5; 15:7, 10).

6:13 cast out many demons and healed many. This summary looks like one that could be about Jesus, and that is the point. The ministry of the Twelve would replicate his ministry.

COMMENTARY [Text]

Jesus expanded the coverage of his message by sending the Twelve out in pairs. They also had the authenticating authority over demons and disease that underscored the credibility of their message that the new era of God’s rule had appeared. These messengers traveled in a way that showed their dependence upon God. Their commission was to enter a city and preach. If those in the city or town responded, then the pair of missionaries remained. If not, their departure was to make clear the city’s accountability to God for rejecting the offer of the Gospel. They did this by shaking the dust off their feet. This was an act that pious Jews normally performed in leaving a Gentile city (Lane 1974:209; m. Ohalot 2.3; m. Teharot 4.5; t. Bava Qamma I.5). As a result, the town was responsible for their decision to act like pagans. Guelich (1989:322-323) is right to say that the idea of the pagan act of the town and their culpability are both alluded to by this rebuke of the Jewish community.

The context for this passage is rejection, as the Nazareth scene precedes it and the John the Baptist scene follows. Both the forerunner and the promised One were experiencing rejection, but the word was still going forth.