The commissioning of the twelve Apostles of Jesus towards continuing the mission of Christ draws our attention towards participating in the same mission. Jesus urges His followers to preach repentance to the world and gave them the power to perform several miracles.
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic (Mark 6:7-13).
The material world is good in and of itself. All creation is good. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with having possessions and using them for our good and for the good of those who have been entrusted to our care. But there are times when God wants us to rely more upon Him than upon ourselves. The story above is one of those situations.
One could wonder why Jesus sent His Apostles in pairs and gave them authority to perform miracles. This would mean that, Jesus wanted everyone of us to be companions to each other in faith. Encouraging each other to enduring the difficulty in the mission and to support each other in our needs when we run out of material needs as a sign of God’s providence for us.
Again, Jesus told them not to take extra material needs like tunic, sandals, bag etc., because He wanted them not to be distracted by material possessions which could take their attention away from God the divine provider. He wanted them to trust in God’s special provision and care.
Very often, we lack the faith to hold on to the fact that, in the midst of our lack and uncertainty of our ability to possess what we wanted, God only knows what we needed to forge ahead in life and He alone is willing to provide for us.
Our wants may look very attractive but do we really need what we wanted? Let us pay attention to our primary mission which is preaching repentance to everyone to turn away from sin and wickedness and turn our attention to God who alone can provide what we truly needed for participating in the mission of Christ. Peace be with you.
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