TRUSTING JESUS part 5 of 5: “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two.” Mark 6:7
When Jesus calls the Twelve, He is calling them to Himself in a new, deeper way. If you are a Christian, a follower of Jesus, you need to be attentive to His new calls on you. More than anything else, we are all called to enter more deeply into relationship with Him. This is both amazing and hard. Why? Nothing could be more amazing than knowing Jesus, he is the source of all blessing, all joy, all gifts. However, to know Him is to know that we are sinners, called to repent ever more for our willful separation from Him and His love.
However, Jesus does not call the Twelve to Himself just so that they can stay close to Him. In our spiritual paths, it’s way too easy to confuse devotion to Jesus with clinging to Jesus. Just as Jesus Himself, who is One God with the Father and the Spirit, is sent into the world, separated from the Father, we too are sent into our world. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:21) In fact the world Apostle means, one who is sent.
Jesus goes on to tell us how we are to act while on mission for Him (Mark 6:7-13). His instructions have three parts. 1) “Take nothing for the journey.” – rely only on Jesus and His power. 2) “Stay there until you leave.” – get to know the people of the community where you are sent, and allow them to get to know you. 3) If you are not welcomed, move on – don’t continue in unfruitful situations.
Finally, look at how they fare, and ask yourself, does this sound like us? Are we preaching repentance to sinners, in a way that they can hear hope and not condemnation? Are we operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, offering healing, driving out evil? If we are, then the Kingdom of God is being revealed in our midst.
This is the mission which we have inherited from the Twelve.