Advance the Kingdom

Mark 6:10-11

Jesus now tells them where to stay and when to move on. When you find a receptive home, stay there until your work is done in that area. Do not impose yourself on multiple homes or seek out nicer accommodations. This is not a pleasure tour. Adequacy is your goal. Accept what is offered and be grateful. Do not dishonor the kindness of a lesser home by moving to a nicer one and thereby become an offense to the gospel. Don’t be aloof. Live among the people. Be dependent on them. Be accountable. Share life with them. Live in community. Be transparent. Show integrity!

If you do not receive a warm reception in a “short-term” mission (a crucial contextual point), if they will not receive you or listen to you, move on and leave a sign of their personal responsibility and prospective judgment (shake off the dust). We should anticipate rejection by some. When turned away, move on, at least for now. When you leave, in “a merciful prophetic act” (Hughes, Mark, 1:136), shake off the dust from your feet to warn them of what they are rejecting. This was something pious Jews did when they had traveled outside Israel to signify their disassociation from their paganism and the divine judgment that awaited them.

There will be times, with a broken heart, that we must warn others of the danger of rejecting Christ and the judgment they will experience (Ezek 33:1-20). It hurts but it is necessary.

Mark 6:12-13

The final two verses of this section summarize the specifics of the apostles’ mission. It mirrors what they had seen Jesus do. With His authority and enablement, they cast out many demons. They anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them (cf. Jas 5:14-16). They went out and preached repentance, the same message preached by both John the Baptist (Mark 1:4) and Jesus (1:15). They were to go as servants. They were not to compromise their message even if it brought rejection and persecution. They had to have the courage to tell the truth about Jesus and the gospel.

126If “repentance” was the first word out of the mouth of John, Jesus, and the apostles (Acts 2:38), it must be an important component of the gospel and the Christian life.

The mission of the Twelve (Mark 6:7-13, 30-32) brackets an interesting and tragic event in biblical history: the murderous beheading of John the Baptist (6:14-29). What are we to learn? Could it be—at least in part—that the kingdom advances mysteriously in the midst of rejection and even the death of God’s choice servants? We go as a team, and we may suffer and die as a team. We go with little, and even what we have can be taken away. Some will welcome us, but others will not only reject us; they will try to destroy us. Preaching the Word and helping others may result not in our praise but in our death.

This was the fate of John and of Jesus and of the Twelve (minus perhaps the apostle John). This may be your fate or my fate. But did not Jesus say in128 John 15:18, “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you”?

As we advance the kingdom of King Jesus, if indeed we are rejected and persecuted, may our Lord give us the heart of the apostles, “[who were] rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored on behalf of the Name” (Acts 5:41). Carry His Name and you may suffer shame and even pain, but do not forget the great gain now and forever!