Sent by Jesus (Mark #19)

How many of you have ever had a teacher, a parent, or a boss delegate a task to you?

Every hand should go up unless you are under two. All of us have been handed a job by somebody.

Unfortunately, some people are terrible at it.

Three Ways to Delegate Badly

Have you ever had someone delegate a task and then micromanage you through every step of it?

When I was a worship director at a church plant out in Colorado, I did some web and graphic design on the side to make ends meet. Those were lean years financially. A church plant hired me to design a logo for them.

I am not a good logo designer. But I took the job because I wanted the money, and the guy had ideas, so I figured I could pull it off.

I started sending him drafts. He was not thrilled. And pretty soon it was as if he were sitting on my shoulder — move that there, no, not like that, use this font, do it this way. By the end it was the ugliest logo I have ever produced. I did not want my name attached to it anywhere.

And I remember thinking: why did he hire me at all? He knew exactly what he wanted. He could have opened a word processor and used the clip-art word tool, because that is roughly the quality level we landed on, and it would have cost him nothing.

Then there is the opposite failure. Some people hand you a task and then vanish. I need you to do this for me. Fine. Then you hit a question or a problem, and they do not answer your email. They do not answer your text. They are nowhere. And if you finally corner them, they say, “Oh, you’ll be fine.” No support whatsoever. Equally frustrating.

And then there is a third one, which may be the worst: being given a task with no resources to accomplish it.

Imagine I ask my two boys to wash the car. And as they head outside, I add: by the way, you may not use the hose. Or a bucket. Or soap. Or a sponge. And no, you may not drive it to the car wash. But I still expect it spotless when you are done.

They would be furious. I am demanding the outcome and withholding every means of getting there.

I bring that up because today we watch Jesus delegate a task to His disciples — and it is going to sound like He gives them nothing to accomplish it with. Some of you are going to think, what is He doing?

What we will discover is that by withholding the resources they thought they needed, Jesus opened their eyes to see that they already had everything they actually needed.

And this matters, because if you follow Jesus, the task He gave those twelve is remarkably similar to the one He has given you.

Mark 6:7–13

“And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff — no bread, no bag, no money in their belts — but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, ‘Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.”

There are eight details wrapped around this task. But first — what is the task?

They are being sent. Sent by Jesus into Jewish communities to heal, to cast out demons, and above all to announce that the kingdom of God has arrived and that people should repent of their sins and come into it.

1. They Were Sent by Jesus

This one is obvious — it is the first phrase. So why point it out?

Because back in Mark 1, the very first words Mark records from Jesus are these (1:15): “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

That was His message everywhere He went. And when we studied that, we asked: if He is preaching about a kingdom, who is the King of that kingdom? And the answer was Jesus Himself.

Which means this task is not being handed down by a nice man they admire. It is not coming from someone who taught them a few public speaking tricks. It is not even coming from a powerful figure who has performed some healings.

This is the King saying: I am sending you as ambassadors. I have a message I want people to hear — that the kingdom is here, that I am inviting them into it, that they need to repent and believe the gospel.

2. He Gave Them Authority

The end of verse 7: He “gave them authority over the unclean spirits.”

We are not even halfway through Mark and we have already watched Jesus heal a shriveled hand, heal the paralyzed man lowered through a roof, cast out demons, silence a storm with a word, and raise the dead. In nearly all of it, Jesus was doing what only God can do — and most of us shrug and think, well of course, He is the Son of God.

And now He turns and says: I am giving you the authority to cast out demons, to heal, to preach. In other words — go do what I do. Go live the way I live. Go represent Me.

They are not becoming the King. They are representing the King. And to represent a king, you need the king’s authority.

In medieval times, when a king issued a decree, he would drip wax onto the parchment and roll his signet ring through it to seal it — his way of signing. Or if he had an important letter, it went in the envelope, wax on the flap, ring pressed through.

But occasionally the king was indisposed — ill, on his deathbed, away at war — and the kingdom still had to function. So the signet ring would be entrusted to a high-ranking officer or a deeply trusted advisor, someone who knew what the king would decree. I give you authority to act in my name.

In a sense, Jesus is handing His disciples the signet ring. I am God. I have authority. I am giving it to you. Go do this in My name. Represent Me.

3. They Were Sent Two by Two — Not Alone

I think there are two reasons for that.

First, the message would be far more credible. If one stranger showed up in your town saying something extraordinary, you would probably dismiss him. It takes a second person to verify it before anyone believes it.

And in Jewish culture this was essential. To become a rabbi, two other rabbis had to lay hands on you and confer that authority. For testimony to stand, there had to be at least two witnesses. So sending them in pairs made the message believable — it could actually be received.

Second, it would be far more encouraging.

I have been open about our journey planting this church and how hard some of the early days were. I struggled emotionally. There were days I wanted to quit. And I am deeply thankful I did not plant this church alone — that God in His wisdom put my wife in my life nearly three decades ago. God has used her enormously to make this church what it is.

There were days when I was down and she lifted me up. And there were days when she had said yes to something she had no experience doing, and had to learn it from scratch, and it overwhelmed her — and I hope I was an encouragement to help her keep going.

Whether it is a project, a journey, a sport, or just life — it is far easier with someone beside you.

That does not mean everyone has to get married. It does mean everyone needs someone to encourage them. We were not created to do everything alone.

Which is why I care so much about growth groups. I do not want anyone here feeling isolated, feeling like they are going about this by themselves.

Americans love rugged individualism. It is baked into our culture and our psyche. But just because it is an American ideal does not make it a biblical one. God has intentionally placed us in relationship with others.

So get into a group — people who can encourage you in the hard times, pray with you, laugh with you, celebrate with you. Life is far better shared. And if the group times genuinely do not work for you, then at minimum reach out to one person and say, can we get coffee once a week? Connect. Do a study together. Read Scripture together. Pray for each other.

Because Jesus sent them out intentionally two by two. If you follow Jesus, do not try to follow Him on your own.

4. They Were Sent to Trust

Verse 8: “He charged them to take nothing for their journey.” No bread. No bag. No money. And verse 9 says not even two tunics.

There is a note in my Bible next to “tunic” explaining that the Greek word refers to a long garment worn under the cloak, next to the skin. In other words — they were not even to take a change of underwear.

A staff, a cloak, and sandals. That is it.

It sounds like Jesus is refusing them the resources they need. And I can guarantee that when He said this, they panicked internally.

We know these men worried about material things. In Matthew 16 there is a moment where Jesus is in the boat with them crossing the Sea of Galilee and says, “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees.” He is warning them about hypocrisy — the Pharisees teach the law but do not practice it, and hypocrisy seeps through a life the way yeast works through dough.

And the disciples hear it and think: oh no, He is upset because we forgot the bread. We forgot the bread. What were we thinking?

And Jesus essentially says: do you not remember that I just fed five thousand people with a boy’s lunch? Stop worrying about bread. There are bigger things happening.

They worried about earthly things just like we do — probably more. When we do not have food, we go to the refrigerator or the pantry. Even those on the lower end of the economic scale here can generally get to a store and buy something cheap. In their day there were no grocery stores. They had to plan ahead. Make the bread. Catch the fish. Clean the fish. Build the fire. Do all the work. You could not pull something out of a freezer and eat in three minutes.

So why does Jesus say take no food, no money, not even a change of clothes?

An illustration from a church platform

When I was on staff at a church some years ago, our worship style would have been described as “blended” — which really meant one week was traditional and the next was an attempt at contemporary music that did not go especially well. Fundamentally, the church was afraid of guitars.

Our worship pastor wanted to move us toward guitar-led worship, and our sound team was nervous about it. So he would put a guitar on the platform, and unless you were sitting in the first three rows you could not hear it, because they would not push it through the system.

He got so frustrated that he finally figured out what to do. One Sunday he allowed no piano. No other instruments at all. Four acoustic guitars and four microphones on stage — and the sound team simply had to make it work.

That is essentially what Jesus is doing. He strips everything else away so these men will discover that they already have everything they need.

Because with no bread, no money, and no spare clothing, they had to rely fully on God to provide.

And He did. In a couple of weeks we will reach verse 30, where the disciples return from this trip. And they come back celebrating. They are thrilled. Jesus, you will not believe what happened.

Mark does not record a single complaint. Nobody comes back saying, “How could You do that to us? We were out there with no food. How could You? I thought You cared.”

None of it — because God provided the entire way.

You do need to understand that ancient Jewish culture had a strong ethic of hospitality. It was normal for a stranger to walk into a village and for someone to ask, do you have a place to stay tonight? Do you need something to eat? They took care of one another, because there were no hotels and no drive-throughs.

We do not do that. If you see a rough-looking man with a backpack walking through town, I doubt you are pulling over to offer him your guest room. In our community the people who do that mostly have lights on top of their cars.

You may not know this, but every year at Christmas our local police officers ring the donation bells, and they use those funds to help people passing through town. If they get a report of someone stranded, they will put them up in a motel for a night and provide a couple of meals. They genuinely help. And then they drive them to the bus station and tell them not to come back unless they have a job.

We are not a culture of hospitality. In their day they were. And God used that to teach these men: I do not need the money. I do not need the extra clothing. I do not even need to carry food. God will provide the whole way.

Jesus was not only sending them to deliver a message. He was sending them to learn trust. He was building their faith.

5. They Were Sent to Bless

We say this all the time around here — go and follow Jesus, go and be a blessing. Now you can see where it comes from.

Matthew 10 gives us the parallel account with more detail. Verses 5–15:

“These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

“‘And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.'”

Look at the call to bless. Go and bless people with a message: the kingdom of God is at hand. For two thousand years the Jewish people had held prophecies that a Messiah was coming — and now He is here. That is good news.

And to verify the message: bless them by healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers. And do all of it without payment. Collect no gold, silver, or copper. Jesus came and it cost you nothing to receive Him, so go and do the same. Your compensation is a meal. Let someone take you in, give you a place to sleep and something to eat. That is enough.

You are there to bless.

6. They Were Sent and Rejected

Last week we watched Jesus go to His hometown and be rejected by the people who had known Him his whole life. Who do you think you are? You come in here acting like a prophet from God — but we know your mother and father. We know your brothers and sisters. We know your story. We know your mother was pregnant before they were officially married. We know you were born in sin. How dare you.

I think Jesus brought His disciples along precisely so they would see Him rejected. He knew He was about to send them out, and if their rabbi — their Messiah — could be rejected, they should expect nothing different.

Last week I confessed that I am a people pleaser. I want people to like me, and it genuinely bothers me when someone simply refuses to.

There is a man who attended here exactly one Sunday, I think in our second year. That day he was all smiles and shook my hand. Since then I have run into him around town several times, and he will not so much as look at me. I have tried engaging him on safe subjects — the weather, what a gorgeous day it is. Nothing.

I have no idea what I did. The last I saw him he gave me a smile and a handshake. I can only guess that he did not like what I preached.

Jesus knew these men would walk into towns intending to bless and heal — and that some people simply would not like what they preached. And they were to go bless anyway.

But what about shaking off the dust?

That does not sound like a blessing. I had not dug into it much until this week.

Here is what I learned. When a Jew was leaving Gentile territory and returning to Jewish land, he would shake out his cloak to remove all the dust he could, and tap his sandals to shake the dust off them — because he did not want to carry unclean dirt from a Gentile region into pure Jewish territory.

Now imagine two Jewish men come into your Jewish town. They tell you about the Jewish Messiah. They announce that the Jewish kingdom of God has arrived. They perform blessings for your Jewish community. And your community says: no. We do not accept this. We do not like it. Leave.

And these two men walk to the edge of town, stop in front of everyone watching them go — and tap the dust off their sandals.

Everybody knows exactly what that means.

They are mirroring back the rejection the town just gave to Jesus. This is not the disciples saying to blazes with you. It is them saying: reconsider. The kingdom of God is here. Repent and believe the gospel — otherwise we shake the dust from our feet, rejecting you because you have rejected Him.

It is a last appeal. He is here. The Messiah has come. He is good. He loves you. Repent and believe the gospel.

7. They Were Sent to Obey

This one is a two-sided coin.

On one side are the instructions the disciples themselves had to obey. Go to these communities. Preach this message. Do these things. Take nothing. Stay where you are welcomed. They had to obey.

On the other side is the message itself, which was a call to obedience. This is about the kingdom of God — and to come into a kingdom you come through the King. Jesus is the door. Which means repenting of sin and coming in through Him.

So they were calling people to obey. That was the heart of the message.

8. They Were Sent to Share the Gospel

Ultimately these men were not sent merely to heal — although I am certain the healed were profoundly grateful. They were not sent merely to cast out demons — although I am sure those families were overjoyed.

They were sent to preach a message. They were there to share the gospel. And the miracles existed to verify that the story was true — that God really had come to earth, that Jesus really was who He said He was.

As they preached, and people were healed, and lives changed in front of them, everyone could see: this is true. The gospel is real.

And This Task Is Not Only Theirs

This was not delegated only to twelve men in Mark 6. It has been delegated to anyone who says they follow Jesus.

Because in Matthew 28, just before He ascends, Jesus gives one final command — and it should sound familiar:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Sent by the King. Given His authority. Not sent alone. Sent to trust Him for what you do not have. Sent to bless. Sent knowing you may be rejected. Sent to obey. And sent, above everything else, to share the gospel.

Father, You wrote these words long ago, and they will be here long after we are gone. We come to them carrying our own backgrounds, our own baggage, our own biases, our own current struggles. Crash through all of it. Teach us Your truth and begin to change us — because You have a mission for us and we need to hear it.

You love us passionately, and there is a world out there that You love passionately, and I believe You want to use us to help that world know it. Amen.