In Mark 6:7-13 we are looking at the first outreach led by the disciples and it is found in 3 of the 4 gospels. From their appointment to be His disciples until now they have been with Jesus in training for about 1 year. During that year they knew that they were being prepared to be sent away from Jesus to do His work. They had observed Him; His methods, His words, His authority and power. They had taken note of not only His ability over every human affliction but the compassion with which He handled each and every person as if they were the single most important person He had ever met. They had witnessed how he dealt with crowds, and opposition.
They were present during the two visits to Jesus’ home village of Nazareth where His work was paralyzed by unbelief. The time had now come for them to be His apostles sent away, His ambassadors, saying the things He had been saying, doing the things He had been doing. Before we look at the text I want us to skip ahead to verses 30-32 where Mark tells us how the first mission experience went. It is very revealing by what we DON’T FIND: There are no specifics given in the report, no details of where they had gone, what people had they had encountered or specific victories won in His name.
In fact, none of the gospels including Mark say anything other than what we are told in verse 12 that they, “told Him ALL THINGS, both what they had done and what they had taught.” What seems to have caught the attention of Peter when he communicated this to Mark was NOT what they had done and said while they were out but rather the care of Christ for them on their return! This may be the single most important point of their time away from the Master doing ministry:
As wonderful as it is to fulfill our calling in service it pales in comparison to being in His presence and experiencing His personal love and care for us! I suggest to you that this may very well be the purpose and goal of our service. Only a few days earlier after their experience on the Sea of Galilee they had asked “Who can this be?” The passage before us is driven by the disciple’s continual exploration of that question.