Bible Materials

Mark 6:1-13 (2008)

by Paul Choi   09/20/2008   Mark 6:1~13

Message


A FIELDWORK TRAINING

Mark 6:1-13

Key Verse: 6:7 “Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.”

  Last week we studied about Jesus who healed a woman who suffered from bleeding. Humanly, she could not approach Jesus because of the forbidden law and due to her disease. But, by faith she came and touched the cloak of Jesus from behind, and she was healed. We learned from her so-called, “just touching faith.” Jesus also healed the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. Jairus had many human obstacles to come to Jesus, but for the sake of his daughter, he overcame them and came to Jesus for help. When Jesus arrived at his house, his daughter was already dead. But, Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe!” We learned from Jairus so-called, “just believing faith”.

  In today’s passage Jesus visits his hometown and preaches the word. Let’s see how his townspeople respond to his teaching and what we can learn from Jesus. Jesus also sends out his disciples on field trip. Let us study why Jesus sent them out and what his intentions were.

  1. Jesus was rejected by the people in his hometown (1-6)

As we studied, Jesus began to preach the good news from the initial stage of his messianic ministry. His message was, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk 1:15) Wherever he went, he preached the word and taught people about the kingdom of God. He also healed various kinds of sicknesses and served all the needy people. Jesus healed them so that they might believe in him as the Promised Messiah and receive eternal life in the kingdom of God. Wherever Jesus went, a huge crowd followed him.

  Then, Jesus called the twelve disciples so that they might be with him and learn from him. From time to time Jesus helped them to overcome inner fear and grow as fearless and courageous men of God. Jesus also taught them how to see God’s people with the compassion of God and become good and responsible shepherds for God’s flock. The disciples learned that Jesus is the Mighty God who controls nature and the Wonderful Savior who drove out demons and the Good shepherd who healed the sick with the compassion of God.

  Now the opportune time came for Jesus to visit his hometown. His disciples must have been excited to visit Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth even though it was a comparably small town.  Recently Sarah Palin, the vice presidential candidate of the Republicans visited her hometown after she had appeared at the Republican National Convention. She was warmly and jubilantly welcomed in her hometown. The disciples must have had the same expectation and feeling when they accompanied their popular master Jesus.

  When Jesus visited his hometown, what did he do? Look at verse 2. “When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!”  The townspeople were amazed by the wisdom and the power of Jesus’ teaching. They also marveled to hear about the miraculous signs which Jesus had performed. So, they must have accepted Jesus as the Promised Messiah and the Savior of the world, whom they had waited for for a long time. But what happened next?

  Look at verse 3. “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?” Aren’t his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him.” They began to see Jesus humanly. At first, they were excited to see Jesus and to hear about his message.  They were amazed by his wisdom and power. But, when they saw Jesus humanly, looked at Jesus from a human point of view, suddenly they became humanistic philosophers, saying, “Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Joseph and Mary? We have known him since he was in diapers. I often carried him piggyback. Then, how did he sit at the place of teaching over us? He is presumptuous!” They were like rocky people in the parable of the sower, who heard the word with joy, but easily fell away since they had no root. (Mk 4:16,17) They could not accept Jesus because of their fixed ideas and prejudices. They saw Jesus humanly, and it was their dilemma and the root of all sins.

  It is not difficult for us to meet such people when we live the life of faith. Since we start the life of faith and teach the Bible to others, our family members or close friends are amazed at first. But, they soon see us humanly and become skeptical and somewhat hostile.  After I was born again by the power of God and by the mercy of Jesus Christ, immediately I started Bible study and committed my life to bible teaching. My family members and close friends who had known me were amazed at me. But soon, they underestimated my changed life and did not acknowledge the work of God through me. The problem was that they saw me humanly. They did not see the work of the Holy Spirit which occurred in my life and they did not see Jesus in me. Humanism and humanistic ideas frequently disturb the work of Holy Spirit and discourage the work done by faith.

  The townspeople’s poor and hostile response toward Jesus must have been a shock to his disciples, who had expected a warm welcoming ceremony from them. Some of them might have expected delicious homecoming dinners. Then, how did Jesus help his disciples? Look at verse 4. “Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” Jesus quoted a popular proverb which was commonly used at that time.

Jesus helped his disciples not to be discouraged or daunted by his hometown peoples’ humanistic response. Look at verses 5,6. “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.” Jesus did not perform any miracles except for healing the sick, because of the townspeople’s unbelief. They did not deserve to receive the Messiah’s mercy because of their unbelief and human thinking .

  1. Jesus sends his twelve disciples for fieldwork training (6b-13)

Jesus understood well the hearts of his disciples who were discouraged by his townspeople. Jesus knew their inner struggles. Then, in this spiritual conflict, what did Jesus do and how did he help his disciples? Look at verse 6b and 7. “Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.” Jesus did not despair or become discouraged by the humanistic and unbelieving people. Rather, he went around teaching from village to village. He was like our UBF missionaries in China who were not discouraged by persecution and rejection, but went around teaching from town to town. They were like young missionaries in Chicago UBF, who were not discouraged or withdrawn by rejection, but continually taught the word of God from campus to campus.

  While teaching from village to village, Jesus called his twelve disciples and sent them two by two for fieldwork training so that they might experience the power of God. Jesus did not want his disciples just to sit down and calculate. Jesus did not want his disciples to become men of desk theory, but become courageous shepherds who feed God’s flock of sheep and fight against the power evil spirits. Jesus sent them to a mission field so that they might become strong and courageous spiritual generals.  In the army, the one who has no field work experience cannot become a commander. Only the one who experiences field operation receives a green shoulder strap to become a commander. In the same token, Jesus sent his disciples into the mission field so that they might experience the power of God in their practical and spiritual world.  There is no better way for his disciples to experience the power of God than the field work training. In order to preach the word, they must overcome inner fear. In order to rescue God’s sheep from the wolves, they must fight a good fight as David fought against lions and bears to rescue his sheep. (1Sa 17:34,35) In order to raise disciples of Jesus, they must kneel down and pray all the more. That’s why our missionaries visit campus two by two these days. Why two by two? It must be Jesus’ wisdom and best and the most effective way of reaching out to people. (Eccl 4:9,10) Two persons also would learn how to work together in doing the work of God.

Before Jesus sent them out, he gave his instructions, which contained principles for fieldwork ministry. Look at verses 8,9. “These were his instructions: ‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff-no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.” Generally when we go for a trip, we take many things necessary for the future such as a lunch box, drinking water, long-sleeve jackets, some cash, not to mention credit cards. When I sent Dr. Oleg to Penn State, I bought a AAA Plus membership for him so that he might not be embarrassed by an unexpected car accident on the highway. But, Jesus did not give anything to his disciples. He only gave them instructions that they should not take anything, not even a credit card and lunch bag. Why? It was because Jesus wanted them to depend on God absolutely. Jesus wanted his disciples to depend on God moment by moment believing that God would provide everything for their mission journey and that God would protect them absolutely from any car accident and terrorist attacks. Jesus’ instructions seemed to be unreasonable and unrealistic from the human point of view. But Jesus did it by faith. Jesus helped his disciples to live by faith, not by sight.(2 Cor 5:7)

  Since God took his people the Israelites out of Egypt and brought them into the desert, God fed them with manna and quail. The Israelites would go out to collect manna each day to feed their hungry stomachs. Through this daily bread training, God taught them how to depend on God absolutely and seek him every day. Our missionaries go out to campus for reaching out to students for bible study. Humanly speaking, they are middle aged foreigners with broken English. But, they go out and invite students only by faith. Then, they experience the power of God and learn how to depend on God moment by moment. In this way, I have hope for each member of our church to have three regular one to one bible studies soon. Amen.

Second of all, Jesus instructed his disciples not to compromise. Please read verses 10,11. “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” While writing this message, someone rang the doorbell. There stood a woman who came for a survey and encourage me to vote for Barak Obama for a president. She visited me with a political purpose. But, Jesus’ disciples would visit homes with the good news about Jesus Christ. They would heal the sick and drive out evil spirits.(7,13) Therefore, they must have spiritual authority over those who would listen to them.

The disciples must not compromise their gospel faith with people’s poor response or rejection. They should shake the dust off their feet when they would not welcome them or listen to them.

  Here shaking the dust off their feet indicates that the servants of God should not compromise gospel faith with secular and humanistic culture. These days some people say that those who do not compromise with modern culture are all cults.  What they meant is that we should leave God-centered life and follow the trend of people-centered ministry. But, we should not compromise gospel faith with modern culture. We focus on one to one bible study and raise disciples and Bible teachers through one to one ministry. It is because we believe that the Bible is the absolute word of God and its absolute power for world salvation. We appreciate and use contemporary programs and systems of the world for the effective work of God, but we must not compromise our gospel faith with humanistic and relativistic modern culture. If anyone discourages our gospel faith, we must shake off our feet and move on. Amen.

 

  What did Jesus’ disciples do? Look at verses 12, 13. “They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” When the disciples obeyed Jesus’ command and went out into the mission field, they experienced the power of God. They preached the message of repentance wherever they went. They also drove out many demons and healed many sick people with the power and authority of God. Blessed are those who obey Jesus’ world mission command and go out to preach the word. Blessed are those who depend on God absolutely and keep their gospel faith and do not compromise with a sinful generation.  Blessed are those who experience the power of God in reaching out, preaching, and teaching to college students at each campus around the St. Louis area.

  In today’s passage, Jesus taught us not to be discouraged by humanistic people. Rather, Jesus taught us to go out two by two and preach the word boldly and courageously with gospel faith. We must not just sit down and complain and calculate our human limitations. Rather, we must pray and go out and experience the power of God in our field work trips. May God make America kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Amen.


Attachment



St Louis UBF University Bible Fellowship

7375 Tulane Ave University City, MO 63130, USA
314-898-3512 choi8149@yahoo.com


  Website : UBF HQ | Chicago UBF | Korea UBF | Pray Relay Site |   YouTube : UBF HQ | UBF TV | Daily Bread

Copyright St Louis UBF UBF © 2020