Commentary - Mark 6:7-13

Bird's-eye view

In this brief but potent passage, Jesus commissions the twelve for their first missionary tour. This is not a suggestion; it is a deployment. The King is sending out His heralds, His royal emissaries, to announce the advance of His kingdom. He endows them with a startling measure of His own authority, specifically over demonic powers, which serves as a visible confirmation that a new power has entered the world. The instructions He gives them are radical and counterintuitive. They are to travel light, stripped of all the ordinary securities of life, no extra food, no money, no spare clothes. This enforced dependency is a crucial part of their training. They are to rely utterly on God for their provision and on the hospitality of those who receive their message. This creates a clear, binary test for Israel. A town's reception of these apostles is their reception of Jesus, and by extension, the God who sent Him. Rejection is not a neutral act; it invites a solemn judgment, symbolized by the shaking off of dust. The apostles obey, and their ministry is a powerful threefold cord: they preach repentance, cast out demons, and heal the sick. This is the kingdom in miniature, a preview of the work the church will carry on throughout the ages under the authority of the ascended Christ.

This passage is a foundational text on the nature of Christian mission. It establishes that ministry is delegated, it is authoritative, it is to be undertaken in community ("in pairs"), it demands radical trust in God's provision, and it has eternal consequences for those who hear. The power is not in the preacher but in the King who sends him. The provision is not in the wallet but in the Father who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And the message is not one of gentle platitudes, but a sharp call to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Outline

Context In Mark

This commissioning in Mark 6 follows directly on the heels of Jesus' rejection in His hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:1-6). The juxtaposition is stark and intentional. Where His own kinsmen "took offense at Him" and were hobbled by their unbelief, Jesus turns and launches a wider offensive throughout Galilee via His disciples. The unbelief of Nazareth does not halt the kingdom; it simply redirects its power. This mission also serves as a critical training exercise for the disciples. They have been called (Mark 1:16-20), they have been appointed as apostles (Mark 3:13-19), and they have been observing Jesus' ministry of preaching, healing, and casting out demons. Now, they are moved from the classroom to the field. This is their internship. The authority Jesus gives them demonstrates that His power is transferable and is meant to be exercised through His church. This event also sets the stage for the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44), where the disciples' return from this mission leads to the need for rest and results in one of Jesus' most significant miracles, further schooling them in the limitless provision of the King.

Key Issues

The King's Emissaries

When a king sends an ambassador, that ambassador speaks with the full authority of the king. To receive the ambassador is to receive the king, and to reject the ambassador is to reject the king. This is precisely the dynamic Jesus establishes here. He is the Messianic King, and He is sending out His advance team. They are not going out on their own initiative, with their own message, or in their own power. Everything about this mission is derivative; it all flows from Him. He summons them, He sends them, He gives them authority, and He gives them their instructions.

The authority He gives them is specifically "over the unclean spirits." This is significant. The central conflict in the Gospels is between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Every exorcism is a skirmish in that war, a demonstration that the Stronger Man has come to bind the strong man and plunder his house (Mark 3:27). By empowering the twelve to cast out demons, Jesus is showing that His victory is not limited to His personal presence. He is building an army, a church, through which He will continue to push back the frontiers of darkness. This is not about giving the disciples a new party trick; it is about deputizing them as officers in a spiritual war.

Verse by Verse Commentary

7 And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and was giving them authority over the unclean spirits;

The action begins with Jesus' sovereign initiative. He summoned the twelve. They do not volunteer; they are drafted. He then began to send them out. The word for "send" is apostello, from which we get our word apostle. An apostle is a "sent one." Their identity is defined by the one who sends them. He sends them in pairs, which is a pattern of wisdom seen throughout Scripture. It provides companionship, accountability, and corroboration of testimony ("by the mouth of two or three witnesses"). Then comes the endowment: authority over the unclean spirits. This is raw, delegated power. It is not something they earned or developed; it was a gift given for the task. This authority is the credential that validates their message. It proves that the King they represent has real power over the forces of darkness that enslave men.

8 and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only, no bread, no bag, no money in their belt,

The instructions that follow are designed to cultivate total dependence on God. They are to be stripped of all the normal means of self-sufficiency. Nothing for their journey. The list is emphatic. No bread means no personal provisions. No bag refers to the beggar's bag, used for collecting alms or carrying supplies. No money in their belts, which functioned as a wallet. The only exception is a staff, a tool for walking and for defense against animals. This is kingdom economics. The workman is worthy of his wages, and their provision will come from God through the hands of those who receive their message. They are to travel as men who truly believe that God will provide for their needs, which forces them to live out the very message of faith they are preaching.

9 but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.”

The instructions continue with the same theme of radical simplicity. They are to be shod with sandals, the footwear of the common traveler. But they are not to take a spare tunic. The tunic was the basic undergarment. Having a second one was a small luxury, a provision for a change of clothes or for colder weather. Jesus forbids even this minimal level of preparedness. They are to have what they stand up in, and nothing more. This is not a universal law for all Christian travel for all time, but rather a specific command for this specific training mission. The point was to teach them, in an unforgettable way, that their security lies not in their possessions but in their provider.

10 And He was saying to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.

This instruction governs their conduct within a town that receives them. Once they accept hospitality from a household, they are to remain there. They are not to shop around for better accommodations, seeking more comfortable lodgings or more luxurious meals. To do so would be to insult their initial host and to show that they were motivated by personal comfort rather than the gospel. It would communicate that they were ministry consumers, not servants of the King. This command promotes contentment and keeps their focus squarely on their mission, not on their material circumstances.

11 And any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.”

Here Jesus provides the protocol for rejection. If a town as a whole refuses to receive them (offer hospitality) or listen to them (heed their message), the disciples are to perform a solemn, symbolic act. Shaking the dust from their feet was a gesture that devout Jews would perform when leaving a Gentile region to re-enter the holy land. It was an act of separation from pagan defilement. By instructing His disciples to do this against a Jewish town, Jesus is making a shocking statement. He is saying that a town in Israel that rejects His emissaries is placing itself in the category of a pagan, covenant-breaking community. The act serves as a testimony against them, a silent but powerful sermon that declares their guilt and warns of coming judgment. It is a formal severing of fellowship.

12 And they went out and preached that men should repent.

The disciples obey. They went out, and the content of their preaching is summarized in one crucial word: repent. This is the same message that John the Baptist preached (Mark 1:4) and that Jesus Himself preached (Mark 1:15). Repentance (metanoia) is not simply feeling sorry for your sins. It is a fundamental change of mind, a turning away from sin and self-rule and a turning toward God and His rule. It is the non-negotiable entry requirement into the kingdom of God. Without repentance, there is no good news. The gospel is not an offer of self-improvement; it is a summons to unconditional surrender to the rightful King.

13 And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

Their preaching was accompanied by powerful deeds that authenticated their message. They exercised the authority Jesus had given them, casting out many demons. Each exorcism was a visible sign that the kingdom of God was truly breaking in and defeating the forces of evil. They also healed the sick, and Mark adds the detail that they were anointing with oil. In that culture, oil was a common medicinal agent, a kind of first-century first aid. Its use here likely signifies two things. First, it shows that the disciples were not above using ordinary means. But second, in this context of miraculous healing, the oil becomes a symbolic vehicle for the extraordinary power of God. It is an outward sign of an inward, divine work of restoration. The combination of preaching, exorcism, and healing presents a holistic picture of the kingdom's impact. It brings deliverance from sin (repentance), from Satan (exorcism), and from the physical consequences of the fall (healing).

Application

This passage ought to rattle our modern, comfortable, and highly programmed approach to ministry. First, it reminds us that true spiritual authority is not something we generate; it is something we receive from Christ. We do not go into the world with clever techniques or marketing plans; we go in the name and power of the risen King. Our task is to be faithful ambassadors, not religious entrepreneurs.

Second, this passage challenges our love of security and self-sufficiency. The disciples were sent out in a state of radical dependence. While the specific instructions were for a particular mission, the underlying principle is permanent. We are to trust God, not our bank accounts or our strategic plans. A church that is not living in a state of palpable dependence on God is a church that has forgotten the nature of the kingdom. We are always to be in a position where, if God does not come through, we are sunk. That is the place of faith.

Finally, it clarifies the core of our mission. We are to preach repentance. We are not sent to affirm people in their sin or to offer a therapeutic balm for their anxieties. We are sent to call them to turn from their rebellion and bow the knee to King Jesus. This message must be accompanied by deeds of power and mercy that demonstrate the reality of the kingdom. We are to fight against the demonic, care for the sick, and show the world a miniature model of the restoration that Jesus will one day bring to all creation. We are sent ones, and we must never forget the terms of our commission.