7. And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
8. And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:
9. But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.
10. And He said to them, In what place soever you enter into an house, there abide till you depart from that place.
11. And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when you depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
12. And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
13. And they cast out many devils, and annointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
BEDE; Now our kind and merciful Lord and Master did not grudge His servants and their disciples His own virtues, and as He Himself had healed every sickness and every infirmity, so also He gave the same power to His disciples. Wherefore it goes on: And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits. Great is the difference between giving and receiving. Whatever He does is done in His own power, as Lord; if they do anything, they confess their own weakness and the power of the Lord, saying in the name of Jesus, Arise, and walk.
THEOPHYL. Again He sends the Apostles two and two that they might become more active; for, as say's the Preacher, Two are better than one. But if He had sent more than two, that there would not have been a sufficient number to allow of their being sent to many villages.
GREG. Further, the Lord sent the disciples to preach, two and two, because there are two precepts of charity, namely, the love of God, and of our neighbor, and charity cannot be between less than two; by this therefore He implies to us, that he who has not charity towards his neighbor, ought in no way to take upon himself the office of preaching. There follows, And he commanded them, that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: but be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.
BEDE; For such should be the preacher's trust in God, that, though He takes no thought for supplying his own wants in this present world, yet he should feel most certain that these will not be left unsatisfied lest whilst his mind is taken up with temporal things, he should provide less of eternal things to others.
PSEUDO-CHRYS. The Lord also gives them this command, that they might show by their mode of life, how far removed they were from the desire of riches.
THEOPHYL. Instructing them also by this means not to be fond of receiving gifts, in order too that these, who saw them preach poverty, might be reconciled to it when they saw that the Apostles themselves possessed nothing.
AUG. Or else; according to Matthew, the Lord immediately subjoined, The workman is worthy of his meat, which sufficiently proves why He forbade their carrying or possessing such things, not because they were not necessary, but because he sent them in such a way as to show, that they were due to them from the faithful, to whom they preached the Gospel. From this it is evident, that the Lord did not mean by this precept that the Evangelists ought to live only on the gifts of those to whom they preach the Gospel, else the Apostle transgressed this precept when He procured his livelihood, the labor of his own hands, but He meant that He had given them a power, in virtue of which, they might be assured, these things were due to them.
It is also often asked, how it comes that Matthew and Luke have related that the Lord commanded His disciples no to carry even a staff, whilst Mark says, And he commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only. Which question is solved, by supposing that the word 'staff' has a meaning in Mark, who says that it ought to be carried, different from that which it bears in Matthew and Luke, who affirm the contrary.
For in a concise way one might say, Take none of the necessaries of life with you, nay, not a staff, save a staff only; so that the saying, nay not a staff; may mean, nay not the smallest thing; but that which is added, save a staff only, may mean that, through the power received by them from the Lord, of which a rod is the ensign, nothing, even of those things which they do not carry, will be wanting to them. The Lord therefore said both, but because one Evangelist has not given both, men suppose, that he who has said that the staff, in one sense, should be taken, is contrary to him who again has declared, that, in another sense, it should be left behind: now however that a reason has been given, let no one think so.
So also when Matthew declares that shoes are not to be worn on the journey, he forbids anxiety about them, for the reason why men are anxious about carrying them, is that they may not be without them. This is also to be understood of the two coats, that no man should be troubled about having only that with which He is clad, from anxiety lest He should need another, when he could always obtain one from the power given by the Lord.
In like manner Mark, by saying that they are to be shod with sandals or soles, warns us that this mode of protecting the foot has a mystical signification, that the foot should neither be covered above nor be naked on the ground, that is, that the Gospel should neither be hid, nor rest upon earthly comforts; and in that He forbids their possessing or taking with them, or more expressly their wearing, two coats, He bids them walk simply, not in duplicity. But whoever thinks that the Lord could not in the same discourse say some things figuratively, others in a literal sense, let him look into His other discourses, and he shall see, how rash and ignorant is his judgment.
BEDE; Again, by the two tunics, He seems to me to mean two sets of clothes; not that in places like Scythia, covered with the ice and snow, a man should be content with only one garment, but by coat, I think a suit of clothing is implied, that being clad with one, we should not keep another through anxiety as to what may happen.
PSEUD-CHRYS. Or else, Matthew and Luke neither allow shoes nor staff; which is meant to point out the highest perfection. But Mark bids themselves take a staff and be shod with sandals, which is spoken by permission.
BEDE; Again, allegorically; under the figure of a scrip is pointed out the burdens of this world, by bread is meant temporal delights, by money in the purse, the hiding of wisdom; because he who receives the office of a doctor, should neither be weighed down by the burden of worldly affairs, nor be made soft by carnal desires, nor hide the talent of the word committed to him under the ease of an inactive body. It goes on, And he said unto them, In what place soever you enter into a house, there abide till you depart from that place. Where He gives a general precept of constancy, that they should look to what is due to the tie of hospitality, adding, that it is inconsistent with the preaching of the kingdom of heaven to run about from house to house.
THEOPHYL. That is, lest they should be accused of gluttony in passing from one to another. It goes on, And whoever shall not receive you, &c. This the Lord commands them, that they might show that they had walked a long way for their sakes, and to no purpose. Or, because they received nothing from them, not even dust, which they shake off, that it might be a testimony against them, that is, by way of convicting them.
PSEUD-CHRYS. Or else, that it might be a witness of the toil of the way, which they sustained for them; or as if the dust of the sins of the preachers was turned against themselves. It goes on, And they went and preached that men should repent.
And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them. Mark alone mentions their anointing with oil. James however, in his canonical Epistle, says a thing similar. For oil both refreshes our labors, and gives us light and joy; but again, oil signifies the mercy of the unction of God, the healing of infirmity, and the enlightening of the heart, the whole of which is worked by prayer.
THEOPHYL. It also means, the grace of the Holy Ghost, by which we are eased from our labors, and receive light and spiritual joy.
BEDE; Wherefore it is evident from the Apostles themselves, that it is an ancient custom of the holy Church that persons possessed or afflicted with any disease whatever, should be anointed with oil consecrated by priestly blessing.
Catena Aurea Mark 6