“Mark 6:7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
When Jesus first called the twelve, he said he would make them “fishers of men.” Up until now, the disciples have merely been spectators. And they have been watching Jesus in action. But now, Jesus commissions them. Jesus brings the twelve into active participation in his mission to proclaim the good news. When you read the Scriptures and look for application, it’s good to start with the obvious, with the clear and easily observable.
This whole work of commissioning is a work of God. Jesus calls the disciples to himself. He is the master; they are the servants. Jesus sends them out. Disciples go out under the command of God. And the authority the disciples receives comes from God. So, even though they are mere men, they have authority over the evil spirits, because Jesus has conferred his authority upon them.
First, for a question of application. Do you walk out each day as a commissioned servant of Christ? We don’t have the exact same mission as the twelve, but we have been commissioned by Jesus to a mission. We’ve been commissioned by Jesus as members of the church, the body of Christ, to bear witness to the kingdom of God. So we are to function as members in a local church and bear witness in how we live, what we do, what we say, that there is an alternative to the kingdom of the world.
The kingdom of the world functions with a modus operandi, its way of doing things. The modus operandi of the kingdom of God is wholly unlike the kingdom of the world. You need to know how the kingdom of the world operates, and how the kingdom of God operates, and how you, as part of the church are called by God to separate from and speak against the kingdom of the world, and instead participate in and announce the modus operandi of the kingdom of God.”
