The gospel reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 4th, Mark 6:1-13 says…
Jesus left that place and came to his hometown. His disciples followed him.2 On the Sabbath, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were surprised. “Where did this man get all this? What’s this wisdom he’s been given? What about the powerful acts accomplished through him? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t he Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” They were repulsed by him and fell into sin. 4 Jesus said to them, “Prophets are honored everywhere except in their own hometowns, among their relatives, and in their own households.” 5 He was unable to do any miracles there, except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 He was appalled by their disbelief. Then Jesus traveled through the surrounding villages teaching. 7 He called for the Twelve and sent them out in pairs. He gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a walking stick—no bread, no bags, and no money in their belts. 9 He told them to wear sandals but not to put on two shirts. 10 He said, “Whatever house you enter, remain there until you leave that place. 11 If a place doesn’t welcome you or listen to you, as you leave, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should change their hearts and lives. 13 They cast out many demons, and they anointed many sick people with olive oil and healed them.
Jesus goes home and things don’t go well. His hometown crowd were repulsed by him and he was appalled by their disbelief. Yikes. Following this difficult encounter, Jesus sends out his twelve disciples for the mission of changing people’s hearts and lives. Can you imagine what these disciples were thinking? “Whoa, the people Jesus grew up with just rejected him, how are people going to receive us?” It had to be part of the conversation because Jesus even tells them, “If a place doesn’t welcome you or listen to you, as you leave, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them.” Yikes! This isn’t going to be all sunshine and rainbows. Perhaps this is why Jesus sent them out two by two.
The message of calling people to change their hearts and lives isn’t always well received. The prophetic voice is not always a welcomed one. Going two by two ensures the disciples will not be alone when things get tough. This is a good model for us to continue to use today. Ministry isn’t meant to be done in isolation, but with one another in community.
Biblical commentator Emerson Powery points out some unique features that are helpful in his commentary on this text. First, Mark’s gospel is the only one where the apostles are told to take a staff and wear scandals. This may indicate that the apostles were sent for a long journey. They may have been away from Jesus for a fairly long period of time. Another unique feature in Mark’s gospel is that the apostles were to continue the Jesus movement in households. They were not to carry on this work so much in the synagogues where the religious leaders were not as welcoming to new ideas, but rather they were to take this message to people’s homes. The apostles would meet people where they were and would take the message to them. This grassroots approach is an important take away for us. We must take Jesus’s message of love and grace to where people are and meet them where they are. We can’t expect them to come to us, we must go to them. Another unique feature in this passage is while the apostles continued Jesus’s message of repentance, their use of oil was distinctive. The gospel brings healing. We may not be cured, meaning our physical ailments will not go away, but healing in the spiritual sense or wholeness or being one with God is something we can offer others. When people change their hearts and lives this kind of healing takes place, and it is the best and most important healing.
Spreading the message of Jesus will always be scandalous and risky and therefore will be met with resistance. People are not always eager to change their hearts and lives. So, we need each other. We must go two by two meeting people where they are and offering the healing message of Jesus’s grace. This message brings wholeness, peace, and a deeper connection with one another and with God.