Sent with Nothing: Mark 6:7-13

He sent them out two by two—pairs of unlikely partners walking dusty roads toward villages they had never visited. Peter and Andrew. James and John. Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot, walking together in what must have been interesting silence.

Jesus gave them authority over impure spirits. But what he did not give them was almost more striking.

"Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt."

No provisions. No backup plan. No safety net. They would depend entirely on hospitality—on strangers opening their doors, on villagers sharing their bread. If the message was rejected, they would shake the dust from their feet as a testimony against that place and move on.

The instructions were specific: when you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. Don't shop for better accommodations. Don't trade up for wealthier hosts. Stay with whoever first welcomes you, and let their home become your base.

So they went. Twelve ordinary men, carrying nothing but a staff and the authority of Jesus Christ. They preached repentance. They drove out demons—the same authority that had freed Legion now operating through their hands. They anointed the sick with oil and healed them.

The kingdom of God was no longer concentrated in one person. It was multiplying, spreading through pairs of witnesses, traveling roads Jesus would never walk, entering villages Jesus would never visit.

The movement had begun.