THE INSTRUCTIONS OF JESUS ABOUT MINISTERING TO UNBELIEVERS (vv.

7–
13)
Verse 7 records the sending: “Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two
and gave them authority over evil spirits.”
The Greek for “two by two” was “duo, duo.” These were the original “dynamic
duos”! Jesus personally gave each pair their authority.8 The wisdom in this lay in the
fact that having two witnesses met the legal requirement for authentic testimony
(Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; Numbers 35:30). Moreover, this provided mutual
encouragement and prayer for ministry. John the Baptist employed the same technique
(Luke 7:18, 19), and so did the Early Church (Acts 13:2, 3; 15:39–41; 19:22).
Some of these duos may have been more dynamic than others. The first was a
compatible brother combo (Peter and Andrew). The last was the unlikely pairing of
Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Each of them (even Judas!) was given power. The
commissioning meant that they were extensions of Christ. “The sent one is as the man
who commissioned him” was the common belief, and here it was true.9 This
commissioning was for a specific ministry and for a specific length of time, but the
principles were and are abiding, as we shall see in the instructions given to them.
Verses 8 to 11 spell out their instructions for ministering to an unbelieving world:
First, regarding provisions, “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no
bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic” (vv. 8, 9).
It was rabbinic law that when a man entered the Temple courts, he must put off his
staff, shoes, and money girdle. That is, all ordinary things were to be set aside. It may
well be that Jesus was thinking of this, and that he meant his men to see that the humble
homes they would enter were every bit as sacred as the Temple courts.10 However, the
overlying reason was so they would be dependent upon Christ for strength. The
minimum of provisions was meant to call out the maximum of faith.
Today we are more in danger of having too much baggage than too little. Through
this text, Christ warns us today about having too much, as the demise of some
evangelical TV empires so sadly illustrates. The Apostolic Church could say: “Silver or
gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
walk” (Acts 3:6). Much of the modern Church can say neither. Dependence is necessary
to meet and evangelize an unbelieving world.
Second, regarding comfort, Christ said, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there
until you leave that town” (v. 10). They were not to change lodging for self-comfort. If
there was no air-conditioned doghouse or hot tub, they were to stay anyway! They were
not going on a pleasure tour. The English Church of the eighteenth and ninetenth
centuries was scandalized by fat country parsons who were authorities on hunting dogs
and the vintages in their cellars. True Christianity, world-changing Christianity, is not
comfortable!
Third, Jesus was specific about their disposition: “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” (v. 11).

8
8. Taylor, p. 303.
9
9. Lane, pp. 206, 207 says: “The commissioning of the Twelve has a rich background in the
juridicial practice of Judaism, which recognized the official character of actions performed by
authorized individiuals. Reduced to its simplest form, the law acknowledged that ‘the sent one
is as the man who commissioned him. ’”
10
10. Barclay, pp. 143, 144.
 Does this suggest a bumptious, short-fused, hostile approach to spreading the
gospel? Not at all! It was customary for pious Jews who had traveled abroad to carefully
shake the dust of alien lands from their feet and clothing. This act dissociated them from
the pollution of those pagan lands and the judgment which was to come upon them. The
same action by the apostles symbolically declared a hostile village pagan. It was a
merciful prophetic act designed to make the people think deeply about their spiritual
condition.11 We surmise that this ceremonial act made a strong impression on the
countryside and brought some to grace. Today there are times when the Church must
warn the world of judgment. There are even times to disassociate ourselves from sinful
society.
What happened with the Twelve? “They went out and preached that people should
repent” (v. 12). They heralded the gospel, preaching that the Kingdom was at hand and
that people must turn from their sin in preparation for it (cf. Matthew 10:7). The result
was, “they drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed
them.”
In short, the Twelve experienced great power in bringing the gospel to an
unbelieving world. It was repentance, deliverance, and healing, just as if Christ were
physically there. There was a foretaste of what the Church would do through the
centuries when it operated in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Later, at the end of his earthly ministry, on the eve of his death, Jesus spoke of this
same principle in the most dramatic terms: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in
me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these” (John
14:12). How could his followers (us!) do greater things than he did? I have not seen or
heard of the Church doing greater things than Jesus. Have you? Was Jesus a mistaken
prophet?
A true-life incident may help us understand.
During the war in the Pacific, a sailor in a United States submarine was stricken with acute
appendicitis. The nearest surgeon was thousands of miles away. Pharmacist Mate Wheller Lipes
watched the seaman’s temperature rise to 106 degrees. His only hope was an operation. Said
Lipes: “I have watched doctors do it. I think I could. What do you say?” The sailor consented.
In the wardroom, about the size of a pullman drawing room, the patient was stretched out on a
table beneath a floodlight. The mate and assisting officers, dressed in reversed pajama tops,
masked their faces with gauze. The crew stood by the diving planes to keep the ship steady; the
cook boiled water for sterilizing. A tea strainer served as an antiseptic cone. A broken-handled
scalpel was the operating instrument. Alcohol drained from the torpedos was the antiseptic.
Bent tablespoons served to keep the muscles open. After cutting through the layers of muscle,
the mate took twenty minutes to find the appendix. Two and a half hours later, the last catgut
stitch was sewed, just as the last drop of ether gave out. Thirteen days later the patient was back
at work.12
It was a great thing—greater than any surgeon could ever have done. Not because it
was better, but because of Wheller Lipes, the human instrument. A humble pharmacist’s
mate operated in less than ideal conditions.
In this way the apostles, the Church, and we Christians today can do “greater
works”—not because they are greater than Jesus’ works, but because we are frail human
instruments. Knowing who we are, it is amazing he uses us at all!
What are the abiding principles for those who would minister midst unbelief? We
must expect difficulties in ministry. “A servant is not greater than his master.”
Nevertheless, Christ fights unbelief through those who truly believe. The faithful

11
11. Lane, pp. 208, 209.
12
12. Donald Grey Barnhouse, Let Me Illustrate (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1967), pp. 358, 359.
follower lives in dependence. He travels light. He does not seek comfort first, but God’s
pleasure. He is straightforward about the condition of the world and the danger facing
lost men and women.
1

1
Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark : Jesus, servant and savior. Preaching the Word (135).
Westchester, Ill.: Crossway Books.