Today I’m excited to talk about a part of the Gospel we sometimes tend to forget about! I love how Scripture can rekindle spiritual fires and how it can truly be a reflection of a person’s heart. Let’s look into Mark 6 and see what we look like today!...
“Now He was going around the villages in a circuit, teaching. 7 He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a walking stick: no bread, no traveling bag, no money in their belts. 9 They were to wear sandals, but not put on an extra shirt. 10 Then He said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. 11 If any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Mark 6:6b-11
This is an awesome story! Jesus has been teaching, doing miracles, exorcizing demons, and even bringing people back to life! He roughly has about 70 close disciples at this point, cross referenced with Luke 10:1, and he calls forth the twelve and then the others and does something that blows me away.
Jesus basically says, “You’ve all seen what I’ve done, and heard what I’ve said… Now, it’s your turn! I give you my authority and send you forth!”
Whoa, hold up young fella, this isn’t supposed to happen till Acts 1, right? Actually, it’s before he dies! He sends 70 some disciples out to neighboring cites and tells them to preach the good news and that they should expect to also usher the Kingdom of Heaven into those places by doing similar things in His authority.
If this isn’t cool enough, He tells them some stipulations. These encouragements actually empower them to lean on God and allow them to grow in their trust in Him!
Before we peak at the remaining verses of this passage, and dive into more craziness, let me ask you something…
With these instructions, would you go?
Would you go, following all the stipulations, and trust everything Jesus commands?
I wish I could be the guy that champions these notions and says I would definitely do it! However, I find myself daily standing by Jesus thinking, “Do you really want me to go there? Say that? Trust you like that?”
The hope of this passage is that we would be committed believers that live the remaining part of this passage…
“12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 And they were driving out many demons, anointing many sick people with olive oil, and healing them.” Mark 6:12
They went, trusted, followed, and saw all that was promised! This can be us Beloved! This can be us through Jesus!
No comments:
Post a Comment