Mark 6:7–13 Sent With Nothing but Authority

Anchor Text (NKJV)

“And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts—but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics. Also He said to them, ‘In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!’ So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.”(Mark 6:7–13, NKJV)

Sent With Nothing but Authority

The air was heavy with dust, sandals scuffing on the ground as twelve men shifted awkwardly. Moments ago, their Teacher had called them in close. They expected another lesson, maybe a parable. Instead, He sent them out.

Two by two they stood, staring at each other. Ordinary men with fishing-calloused hands, tax ink still under their fingernails. And the instructions? Baffling. No bag. No bread. No coins for the road. Not even a spare tunic. Just the sandals on their feet and the staff already in their hand. Go like that. Preach repentance. Drive out demons. Heal the sick.

They must have wondered if He was serious. Traveling philosophers carried bags for donations. Rabbis often lived off wealthy patrons. Even prophets like Elijah at least relied on widows for bread. But Jesus cut every safety net. Go light. Go vulnerable. Go dependent.

And then the thunderclap: “If they reject you, shake the dust from your feet. It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”

That line would have sucked the breath out of the room. To Jewish ears, Sodom and Gomorrah were not just cautionary tales — they were the nightmare of judgment. Ash heaps of divine wrath, invoked by prophets as shorthand for destruction (Isa. 13:19; Jer. 23:14; Ezek. 16:49). Josephus even called their ruins a perpetual reminder of God’s anger (Antiquities 1.194). Yet here Jesus says covenant towns rejecting the gospel would fare worse. The disciples must have felt the ground shift beneath their feet. This mission was not about survival. It was life and death.

The Strange Packing List

At first glance, the Gospels don’t agree on what they were allowed to carry. Mark says a staff and sandals are permitted. Matthew and Luke forbid them. Critics call it contradiction. But the difference lies in the words themselves.

Matthew and Luke use a verb that means “acquire, provide, procure.” Don’t go shopping for extra supplies, don’t stockpile gear. Mark uses a different verb — “carry.” In other words, go as you are. If you already have a staff in hand and sandals on your feet, fine. Just don’t load yourself down with backups.

All three evangelists point to the same principle: strip away every safety net. Trust God, not baggage.

What the World Would Have Seen

For first-century hearers, this was not abstract. Cynic philosophers roamed the empire with staff and beggar’s bag, flaunting their supposed independence while living off handouts. Rabbis often relied on patrons and sometimes angled for better accommodations. Jesus’ disciples would look different.

No bag to collect coins. No house-hopping for better meals. Just contentment in the first place they were welcomed, and trust that God would provide. Hospitality was sacred in Jewish culture. To refuse a guest was shameful. But to leave one host for another was just as shameful. Jesus protected His disciples from both greed and disgrace.

And when rejection came — because it would — they weren’t to argue or plead. They were to shake the dust from their sandals. Jews did this when leaving Gentile soil, a way of saying, “I want no part in their uncleanness.” To perform this act against a Jewish town was explosive. It declared: you have placed yourself outside the covenant by refusing the King’s messengers.

Oil in Their Hands

Mark alone tells us they anointed the sick with oil. To us, it sounds like a ritual flourish. To them, it was earthy and familiar. Olive oil was medicine (Isa. 1:6; Luke 10:34). It was also a symbol of blessing, consecration, and the Spirit (Ps. 23:5; 133:2).

The disciples poured it on wounds — something anyone might do — but in their hands it became more. It was not oil that healed, but the authority of Christ working through it. Ordinary substance, extraordinary grace. The same pattern we see later when James exhorts the elders to anoint the sick in the name of the Lord (James 5:14).

The Weight of Judgment

And then the Sodom warning hangs in the air. It meant more than divine punishment in history. To Jewish ears, “the day of judgment” pointed to the Day of the Lord — when God would set the world right, punish the nations, vindicate His people. Yet here Jesus flips the script. Israelite towns rejecting His Kingdom message would be worse off than Gentile Sodom.

That would have stunned the disciples. For centuries, the expectation was that God’s wrath would fall on “them” — the pagans, the outsiders, the nations. Now Jesus says judgment begins with “us.” Privilege does not insulate; it intensifies responsibility. To slam the door on the King’s messengers is to invite a fire heavier than Sodom’s.

Application: Then and Now

The instructions Jesus gave in Galilee didn’t vanish when the Twelve came home. The early church remembered them. One of the oldest Christian writings outside the New Testament, the Didache — literally “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” — warned believers to test traveling prophets carefully. If a preacher stayed more than two days, he was false. If he asked for money, he was false. If he demanded luxury, he was false (Didache 11:5–6).

Why so strict? Because they knew the words of Jesus. His apostles had gone out with no bag, no money, and no spare tunic. Their mission was marked by dependence, humility, and urgency — not by how comfortable they could make themselves.

And here is the contrast that should trouble us. Today, so-called “apostles” and “prophets” are often welcomed like celebrities. They fly into conferences, are put up in hotels finer than most of their listeners will ever see, wear jewelry that sparkles under stage lights, and leave with offerings large enough to crush the widow’s mite. The Didache would have branded them frauds. Jesus’ own words already did.

The real apostles carried dust on their feet, oil in their hands, and the weight of the Kingdom on their shoulders. They weren’t measured by their accommodations but by their obedience. And that is still the only measure that matters.

So the question presses closer: are we more impressed with those who perform on stages than with those who walk faithfully in obscurity? Do we confuse showmanship with Spirit? Do we look for God’s Kingdom in spectacles and platforms while ignoring the ordinary staff and sandals He still uses?

Conclusion

And so they went — hesitant, perhaps, but obedient. They preached repentance. They poured oil on the sick, and God healed. They watched demons flee and fevers break. The Kingdom moved through their own trembling hands.

That’s the sting of this passage. We complicate obedience with safety nets. We measure mission by budgets, by strategies, by platforms. They had none of that. A staff. Sandals. Oil. And the authority of Jesus. That was enough.

The contradiction in the text — staff or no staff, sandals or none — only drives the point deeper. It was never about equipment. It was about dependence. Whether their feet were bare or shod, whether their hand held a staff or nothing, their power did not rest in what they carried. It rested in the One who sent them.

And that leaves me with a question I can’t escape: what would it look like if I lived like that? Not clinging to my backups. Not chasing upgrades. Not folding at rejection. Just the Word of Christ in my ears, the Spirit of Christ on my life, and the willingness to go.

A staff. Sandals. Oil. Nothing special. Nothing polished. But in the hands of Jesus, more than enough.

References

• Deuteronomy 19:15 — two witnesses establish truth.

• Genesis 19:24–28; Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 23:14; Ezekiel 16:49 — Sodom and Gomorrah as archetype of judgment.

• Josephus, Antiquities 1.194 — Sodom’s ruins as “perpetual memorial” of God’s wrath.

• Mishnah Berakhot 9:5 — entering the Temple with no staff, sandals, or money; mission framed as holy service.

• Didache 11:5–6 — false prophets exposed by greed or overstaying.

• Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament — background on Cynics, hospitality, and dust-shaking.

• William L. Lane, The Gospel According to Mark (NICNT) — analysis of Mark’s vocabulary and mission instructions.

• N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God — mission urgency in light of the Day of the Lord.