Cost of Discipleship
To be a disciple means taking up the cross daily and following in Christ’s footsteps, even if doing so means death - Mark 6:7-30.
Twelve sent to
preach. Jesus sent the disciples out to proclaim the arrival of
the “kingdom,” to cast out demons, and to pray for the sick, and he gave
them his authority to do so. Just as he was the representative of the Father,
so the Twelve became his envoys - (Mark
6:7-13).
“He
summoned the twelve and began to send them out two by two.” This was
in accord with the Mosaic Law that required a man’s testimony to be
corroborated by two or more witnesses, for the twelve would do more than simply
teach his religious principles. Effectively, they would be witnesses to how the
Jewish people responded to the Messiah of Israel - (Deuteronomy 19:15).
Jesus “began to send
them forth.” The verb rendered “began” indicates that he sent them to
preach on more than one occasion. The Greek verb apostellō or
“send forth” is related to the noun apostolos from
which the noun “apostle” is
derived.
“Put on sandals…do not put on two tunics.”
This refers to the inner garment worn by the men of Judea beneath their outer
cloaks. The items the twelve were to carry - staff, belt, sandals, tunic - correspond
to the instructions given to Israel by Moses on the night of Passover in Egypt
- “In this manner, you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on
your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in
haste. It is Yahweh's Passover” - (Exodus 12:11).
The disciples were to announce something to
Israel of far more import than the original exodus from Egypt. Like the ancient
Israelites, they were to be unencumbered with anything that might impede their
journey. Just as there was urgency in Israel’s flight from Egypt, so there was
urgency in the mission of the twelve to proclaim the kingdom to the villages of
Galilee.
“And
shake off the dust under your feet for a witness.” It was the
common practice for Jews traveling through Gentile lands to shake the dust off their
feet when they arrived home to the land of Israel so that no “unclean” pagan
soil would pollute the land of Israel. For the disciples to do this was
tantamount to declaring the offending village Gentile territory,
and therefore, that it was ritually unclean. With the
coming of the Messiah, there could be no presumption of salvation based on
geography, nationality, or ethnicity.
Herod and John. The Gospel of Mark inserts the story of John’s execution between the sending of the twelve
and their return to Jesus. The unjust death of the Baptist provides an example
of the very real cost of becoming Christ’s disciple (Mark 6:14-29).
Herod
Antipas was one of the sons of Herod
the Great and the tetrarch of Galilee
and Peræa, and he ruled
as the faithful vassal of Rome. “Tetrarch” means the “ruler of a
fourth.” Following his death, Herod the Great’s domain was divided between four
of his sons. And as the ruler appointed by Rome, Herod Antipas had the
authority to execute a prisoner convicted of a capital crime in his realm.
Herodias had divorced the half-brother of
Herod Antipas to marry him, a violation of the Mosaic regulations regarding incest.
And though a wife could divorce her husband under the laws of Rome, the Mosaic
Law did not allow a wife to initiate divorce - (Leviticus 18:16, 20:21).
In the eyes of John, Herodias was still
married to the half-brother of Antipas, making her an adulteress. In his turn,
Herod Antipas had divorced his previous wife so he could marry Herodias. In the
passage, her daughter is unnamed, but the Jewish historian Josephus identified
her as ‘Salome,’ the daughter of Herodias and her first husband.
The execution of John foreshadowed the death of Jesus. Like John, he was executed by the representative of Rome. Like Herod, Pontius Pilate hesitated to execute the prisoner that he knew to be righteous but did so anyway.
And like the Temple authorities that demanded
the death of Christ and manipulated the crowds to demand it, Herodias got
her way through her machinations behind the scenes.
And the disciples of John came for his body
and buried him, just as Joseph of Arimathea requested the body of Jesus from
Pilate, prepared it carefully, then buried it.
- (Mark 6:30) – “And the apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus. And they told him all things, whatsoever they had done, and whatsoever they had taught.”
By embedding the execution of John in the
story, Mark has linked the gospel mission of the disciples with the opposition
from the religious and political authorities of Judea. The story highlights the
hard truth that, to become a disciple of Jesus, one must be willing to follow
in his footsteps even when doing so leads to inevitable and foreseeable death.
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