Mark 6:7-13--Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

Mark 6:7-13
English Standard Version
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Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles
7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts-- 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

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This is not the selection of the Twelve, but this is one of the times that Jesus is going to send "advance teams" on ahead of Him so that he can get the gospel message spread to more cities in a shorter amount of time.  Jesus probably knows that His earthly ministry is coming to an end soon, and He needs to get the gospel to all the towns and villages.  Jesus also needs to prepare His apostles for doing this exact thing when He's gone.  What better way to prepare them than to have them start doing it now?  So, Jesus gives them power and authority, specifically over unclean spirits so that they could cast out demons.  They were to trust the Lord to provide for them through the generosity of His people and they were to take no provisions with them for the journey--no food, no bag of supplies, and no money--not even an extra change of clothes or shoes.  They were to depend totally on the hospitality of those they were preaching the gospel to, including for their lodging.

If a place they visited would not receive them (because they would not receive the message they were preaching), they were to shake the dust off of their feet (a proclamation of judgment on that house or city) and move on to the next place where people would repent and believe.  In such places, they cast out many demons and anointed many who were sick with oil, and they were healed.  So, we see God starting to work through the Apostles ins such a way that they are identified with Him and His message.