Mark 6:7-9 - He began to send them out

6:7

“Calling the Twelve to Him, He began to send them out ...” Man was the pinnacle of God’s creation, but sin had corrupted all of creation, and mankind in particular. But God was not going to be defeated, He was not going to have His plans thwarted. Through Christ He redeems men and women. This is not just a matter that through faith we avoid being sent to hell (though, of course, we do avoid going to hell!), but of being put back on the road to being what and who God always intended us to be. So Christ’s purposes include His working through and with us. This is what He is doing here. Jesus sent the disciples out two by two. He also gave them authority over impure spirits. We need to recognise that demons are real, and that in Christ we have authority over them.

6:8,9

Jesus then gave them further instructions. They were not to go out with extra supplies, no bread, no bag, no money, no extra clothing. So is this to be a general rule? No, for in Luke 22:36 Jesus, contrasting a future time with the one described here, tells them to take a bag and a purse, and even a sword. So what is the point here? Here it was training, and to demonstrate to them that even without any obvious means of support God would provide. So what are we to do? If we have the means then we should equip ourselves, but if there are times when that is not possible, then we are still to do God’s work, confident that He will provide.