Scripture Daily

Context No. 3447 of 4322 · Mark

Context · Reflection

Mark 6:7-11: in context

7He called to himself the twelve, and began to send them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8He commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse, 9but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics. 10He said to them, “Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them. Assuredly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

Jesus sends out the Twelve with striking instructions: take nothing for the journey, no bread, no bag, no money in your belt, only a staff and sandals. He deliberately sends them out dependent, unable to rely on their own provisions, forced to trust God and the hospitality of those who receive them.

There is purpose in the poverty. It teaches reliance on God rather than on stores of one's own, and it frees them to travel light and fast for the mission. And he sends them two by two, not alone, so they can support one another. Jesus does not send his servants out self-sufficient but dependent, so that the fruit of the work will plainly be God's provision and not their own resourcefulness. Sometimes God calls us to step out without the securities we would prefer to carry, precisely so that we learn to lean on him and discover that, with him, we lack nothing we truly need.

Am I willing to serve God in a posture of dependence, trusting him for provision rather than relying only on my own resources and securities?

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