Mark 6:7-13 - Who Is Mark Writing To? - July 25, 2021

One of the many things pastors do during their time at our Seminary is learn great big complicated words that most of their members will find to be incredibly dull and boring. Well, today, I’m going to take the risk of using one of those great big complicated words. The word is hermeneutics – which is just a fancy term for the practice of interpreting the Bible. There are many levels of Biblical interpretation; letter by letter, word by word, sentence by sentence, chapter by chapter, book by book. A specific, and very important, principle of Biblical interpretation is to try to understand who the authors were originally writing to and what their purpose was in writing to them.

If you haven’t fallen asleep yet, you might be wondering where I’m going with this introduction. I’m guessing that most of you have heard a sermon preached on this text before. I’m also guessing that if you have, you were told to think of yourselves as the apostles, as if you’re the ones who have been called and commissioned and sent out into the world to preach the Gospel. Think about that for a minute. Who is Mark writing to? Is he writing to the apostles? No, they were there; they heard Jesus’ words; they went out and followed Jesus’ directions. Why would they need to read this account? Mark is not writing to those Jesus’ sent but to those to whom they are sent. Another way to put it is that Mark didn’t include this account to motivate his readers to go out and do evangelism, but so that they would have a proper understanding of the public ministry.

In the verse right before our text, Mark tells us that after he was rejected by his hometown neighbors, [Jesus] went around the villages teaching (Mark 6:6). But that wasn’t enough for Jesus. He wasn’t satisfied with only reaching the relatively limited number of people he could reach on his own – he wanted the proclamation of the gospel to be multiplied exponentially. So he called the Twelve and began to send them out two by two. And Mark summarizes the message they carried throughout Israel with a single word: repent. “Repent” means to change your mind or to turn around. While there is certainly a negative side to repentance – that you are to turn away from your sins – there’s a positive aspect to it as well. If you’re turning away from something wrong it means you’re, necessarily, turning toward something that is right. In other words, even as faithful preachers use the Law to tell you to repent, to turn away from your sins; your works, your efforts, your wisdom, your righteousness – they must follow that up by preaching the Gospel; telling you to turn to and rely on Jesus’ sinlessness, Jesus’ works, Jesus’ efforts, Jesus’ wisdom and Jesus’ righteousness. Jesus so desperately wants people to be turned away from the road that leads to hell and instead turned onto the road that leads to heaven that he sends out men to proclaim the only message that can do that: repent.

However, if you’re supposed to read yourself into this text; if you are to picture yourself as the apostles; if this text is telling you that you’re supposed to go out like them and preach the Gospel – then what in the world are the apostles and pastors supposed to do? If your job is to preach, then what is their job? Doesn’t it turn them into nothing more than organizers, motivators and coaches? Here’s another hermeneutical principal: Scripture interprets Scripture. What did Jesus command Peter to do in John 21 – coach the sheep or feed them (John 21:15-17)? Before Jesus ascended into heaven in Luke 24, did he command his disciples to go to all nations and organize outreach seminars and motivational Ted-Talks or to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47)? In the Great Commission, did Jesus send his disciples out to recruit and motivate or to gather disciples by baptizing and teaching them (Matthew 28:19-20)? I know it’s very popular today to say that every Christian should be a missionary – and there are certainly places in Scripture that teach that very thing – but that’s not what Mark is teaching here. Here, he’s teaching about the public ministry – making it clear that preaching and teaching is the special responsibility of his public ministers.

When you understand that Mark is not writing to the apostles but to you, that puts the rest of the text in a different light, too. When Mark records that Jesus told his apostles to take nothing for their journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in their money belts. They were to put on sandals but not to wear two coats – he’s telling you that he expects you to take care of the pastors he sends your way. That is your ministry. Again, the wider context of Scripture supports this interpretation. Paul says in Galatians: let the one who is taught the word share all good things with his teacher (Galatians 6:6).

I’m not saying these things to shake you down or make you feel guilty – you are doing a great job taking care of your called worker. I’m saying these things because there are flocks of sheep – countless Christians and Christian congregations – who go around hanging their heads because they’ve been taught that they’re supposed to go out and preach the Gospel like the apostles – but they don’t and can’t do it – because they, like you, have marriages and children and jobs to take care of. They leave church forever guilty because they’re no good at evangelism. But Mark didn’t write this to the apostles but to those who would hear the apostles. You are doing your part of the Gospel ministry when you support your pastor – not just with your financial support, but with your talents, your gifts, your skills, your prayers and your encouragement. By supporting your pastor in these ways you are supporting the spread of the Gospel.

Of course, there’s another side to this coin. If you do not welcome a preacher of the Gospel – particularly, Jesus says, if you do not listen to them – then that rejection will stand as a witness against you on the Day of Judgment. If I or any of the pastors I know have any complaint, it’s not that you aren’t providing for our material, physical needs – it’s that you aren’t listening to me. Stick with me here. You are not listening to me when you don’t take comfort in your baptism. If you leave here with a guilty conscience, you’re not listening to me when I tell you that Peter says that your baptism is the guarantee of a good conscience before God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21). If you leave here still weighed down with sin or feeling that you don’t have the strength to say “no” to your pet sins, then you haven’t listened to the absolution in which God removes your sins as far from you as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12; John 20:22-23). If you leave here thinking that God is distant and detached and that he couldn’t possibly care about little old you, then you’re not listening to the Words of Institution. You’re not hearing that in this Sacrament Jesus himself comes here and gives himself to you. He couldn’t care more.

He cares so much that when he sends his preachers to you, they leave evidence behind as a testimony. Jesus told his apostles: any place that will not receive you or listen to you, as you leave there, shake off the dust that is under your feet as a testimony against them. Jesus is “following the science” here, long before anyone had coined the term “following the science.” Today, anyone who has watched CSI knows that a crime can be solved by the smallest amount of forensic evidence: a single fiber, a single hair, a partial fingerprint. This evidence can be – and is – used in courts of law to prove that a certain person was in a certain place at a certain time. Jesus is saying that his Gospel preachers leave evidence of where they’ve been. He’s saying that those who do not listen to them will have no excuse on Judgment Day. They will not be able to say, “We’ve never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel” – the dust that the apostles shook off their feet will serve as a witness against them. We don’t have a whole lot of dust in here – what does this mean for us? What’s the dust today? It’s the sermons preached here, the Bible classes taught, the Sacraments administered. Of course, someone may say “Well, I never came; I didn’t feel a need to hear or study the Gospel; I had better things to do – golfing or fishing or camping or walking the dog were more important.” But doesn’t that just prove the point? Jesus’ messenger was there! The Gospel was proclaimed. Salvation was freely offered. But they didn’t want anything to do with it.

Part of the reason we fail to listen is that we fail to recognize the incredible authority Jesus has given to his messengers. Mark says that Jesus gave them authority over the unclean spirits. I know, you’re thinking that you’ve never witnessed a single exorcism. I’m here to tell you that you have – in fact, I’m here to tell you that every time you’ve come here you’ve been personally exorcised from unclean spirits. One of Satan’s lies is that his demons are only present in people who are bodily possessed, who behave like sociopaths, who have superhuman strength or speak in foreign languages. Satan’s demons are actually present in the things we all deal with; things like guilt, lust, despair, anxiety, fear, greed, depression, envy and addiction. Jesus wants you to know that he has authorized his messengers to drive out these demonic spirits. Baptism is the clearest form of exorcism Jesus has authorized his pastors to use. In Baptism God executes a covert special forces mission in which he lands in Satan’s kingdom and abducts one of Satan’s slaves and brings them into the freedom of his kingdom. In baptism, God clothes sinners with Christ (Galatians 3:27) – and, as we’ve seen throughout Mark’s Gospel – where Christ is, the demons must flee (Mark 1:24; 5:7).

In a more general and regular way, Jesus is also present wherever and whenever the Gospel is proclaimed – and where the Gospel is proclaimed, the demons must flee. They can’t stand to hear that the Seed of the woman has succeeded in crushing their master’s skull (Genesis 3:15). They can’t handle hearing that the Son of God appeared and accomplished his goal of: destroy[ing] the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8). When they hear the Gospel they can’t help but be reminded that Jesus has defeated them; that their power is broken; and that all they have to look forward to is weeping and gnashing their teeth forever in hell. And they can’t stand to be reminded of this. So bring your demons here – however they manifest themselves in your life – to be driven out by the Gospel.

There’s one more thing that Jesus’ messengers do: they anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. Yes, you heard that right, Jesus authorized his ministers to provide physical healing. Now understand this properly – Mark is not saying that pastors today have the ability to cure paralysis or blindness or even an ingrown toenail. The apostles of Jesus’ day did what we do today. They used the medicine of the day, olive oil, and they healed. There is no promise in the Bible that the Church will always be given the gift of healing. Today, you don’t come here for oil or healing – you go to the doctor for medicine and surgery and therapy. But you also receive physical healing from pastors, too. The ancient Church called Holy Communion the medicine of immorality – in that when all of the medicines and surgeries your doctor prescribes inevitably fail and your life comes to an end – this medicine guarantees that your body will rise to eternal life.

But there’s more. Absolution brings physical healing. You can read in the psalms how many of the authors described how they were literally, physically sick with guilt. As I think many of us would attest to, guilt does affect the body. David says when I kept silent, my bones wasted away as I groaned all day long (Psalm 32:3). Absolution cures this by sending your sins away for Jesus’ sake. This is the power and authority that Jesus gives to his messengers, his pastors to use for you, your good now and your salvation eternally. Jesus wants so badly for you to be relieved, to be at peace, to find rest in his atoning sacrifice that he sends men to proclaim and deliver forgiveness to you regularly – both publicly and privately.

Now, while you may have heard a sermon on this text before, I’m guessing you’ve never it preached this way. That’s because we love to make the Bible about us. It’s not. The Bible is about Jesus and how desperately he wants sinners to repent and be saved. Jesus is so desperate for you to be saved that he sends you pastors to preach the saving Gospel and administer his powerful Sacraments for your eternal good. Don’t leave here today guilty that you haven’t preached like Peter or Paul; leave here today relieved – because these verses aren’t about you; they’re about what Jesus has done and is doing for you. Amen.