He called for the Twelve and sent them out in pairs. He gave them authority over unclean spirits.

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a walking stick - no bread, no bags, and no money in their belts. He told them to wear sandals but not to put on two shirts.

He said, "Whatever house you enter, remain there until you leave that place.  If a place doesn't welcome you or listen to you, as you leave, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them." So they went out and proclaimed that people should change their hearts and lives. 

Mark 6:7-12 CEB

Does this story strike you as a bit strange?

The very specific instructions to Jesus team, what to do if they and/or their message is rejected.

It's almost like Jesus wanted his closest disciples to know a bit about what it was like to be him.

To have the power to not just change someone's life today, but their eternal story too, and to be rejected for it.

To be reliant on others to at the very least exercise the culturally expected hospitality and know what rejection is.

To be doing God's work, and be rejected.

Jesus wanted his followers to learn something that would carry them forward when things got really difficult later, that they would see their stories intertwined with his story, and that rejection is not the end...

#gospelofMark #GoodNews #weareinaBigStory