MARK 6:7-34 SEND THEM FORTH With compassion towards the needs of the people of the villages, the Lord went from place to place. The disciples would have heard His words and seen His methods of dealing with those who were demon- possessed. They would have observed how He adapted to the needs of those around. They would have learned by being with Him for over a year that the onus is on the messenger to fit himself into the situation rather than have a template they try to fit people into. These lessons are not always easy to learn because we have a tendency to want people to be like me and mold themselves into my mold rather than be transformed into the image and ways of Christ.
But they had learned and now were sent on their first mission as apostles to call the whole nation to repent. The Lord's compassion would be obvious to the people even though they had to be called upon to stop, change their mind and turn to Him. These men were sent out in pairs for a reason. When the opposition came and the pressure was on, they could strengthen and encourage each other. Rejection of the message is often directed at the messenger and the fact of another person to share in this and to comfort each other is very important. Rejection is to be expected in Gospel activity from those who live in darkness. When it comes from those who profess to be Christians, it is difficult not to argue or retaliate. A third reason for going out with another person is, by talking over a situation each, each can pass on their evaluation and view of events and with joint discernment, they would make fewer mistakes. "When shall we wipe the dust off our feet and move on?" "Is this boarding house the right kind of a place to stay?" "Have we reached everyone in the area so they have an opportunity to hear the Gospel?" There definitely is personal safety in working alongside another fellow-laborer. It also keeps us from laziness and the tendency to not press ahead with the work in our hands.
Going forth in faith is not always an easy thing to do. Taking nothing along and trusting God for daily food, for guidance to shelter, to open and close doors of service before us is not always easy to do. When confronted for the first time with a demon-possessed man or an angry mob of people can be quite daunting. Faith enables us to "keep on keeping on" when fear and doubt would say, "Stop." This whole work is not only physically taxing but is emotionally and spiritually draining. In the process of training His disciples, the Lord demonstrated personally what this whole effort would be like before He sent them out to cover the nation with the Gospel message.
The whole point of that mission was that the nation would know the Person John the Baptist had been preaching about, was here. The time to repent was now. The blessing of changed lives and healed bodies all over the country at the same time by these men would have been "front page news" in every village and town. Even the evil king who murdered the prophet, John the Baptist, was awakened because of his bad conscience. Events had happened in his palace that probably gave him some very unhappy hours, with an unhappy woman, and a whole lot of unhappy subjects who knew John was a great prophet.
The report of the successes of the mission are not given as these tired men return to give their account of the work to the Lord. Success or failure can only be determined by the Lord Himself. It is only right that we recount the events of a work we have been sent to do to those who sent us. But to publicly broadcast what we think has been accomplished by our efforts may really be an exercise of the flesh to get the praise of men.
It is well that we look upon all people with the compassion of the Lord, because they are wandering in the darkness of sin. They need to be made aware of their need. They need to hear the good news of the Gospel and they need to repent and be saved. We are called to do this, and then we can rest.
They are there, in every town and city of God's great harvest field. It seems a very daunting task, because so few to the Gospel yield. All people seem to want, is to be considered successful in life. They want their religious beliefs to be soothing, with no strife. Success to them is measured in dollars and material gain. Their desire is to live with the least possible amount of pain. Comfort and pleasure are far more important to them than integrity. The most possible amount of profit with the least amount of energy, Is what to most people in this area consider to be evidence of success. To be called upon to repent of sin that their soul they may possess, Is a cause for the rejection of the messenger with God's message. Of believing the Gospel and living by faith, there is no vestige. Grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ is rejected out of hand. They want to think these things come under the definitions made by man. In their minds they want to make decisions without fundamental standards, So, they can with a seared conscience unaffected by moral parameters. When they hear the Gospel that first calls on people to repent - They reject it out of hand not caring for the God who it sent. So, the messenger has to take stock as to when to move on. It is not in our mandate from the Lord to try to right every wrong. Our work is to take the message and proclaim it far and wide. The Spirit of God uses that so individuals will no longer try to hide From his conviction, but will repent and make every effort to seek The Lord Jesus Christ as Savior as from the Word of God we teach Truth that responds to that person's deeply felt inward need -
And to the message of God they will give earnest and attentive heed. Light shines in the darkness of the soul who in simple faith - Reaches out the hand of trust to the Savior who saves them by His grace.
"I thank Thee Father, for the privilege of being put in trust with the Gospel. It is always a great joy when I see one repenting and believing the Gospel, and a far greater joy in the Lord as they draw near to the end of their life. What a blessing for them! What glory for Thee! I praise Thee in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."