This coming Sunday is the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Missionary pairs appear to have been characteristic of early Christianity. Jesus initially called pairs of brothers (1:16–20). Acts refers to Peter and John (Acts 3:11; 8:9), to Barnabas and Paul (Acts 11:25–26), and to companions whom Peter takes with him to Cornelius (Acts 10:23). The dangers of travel in antiquity make such arrangements necessary. Other interpreters have suggested that the use of pairs should be associated with the legal requirement for two witnesses to testify in a case (Num 35:30; Deut 19:15) since a judicial note is introduced in the gesture of judgment against those who refuse to hear the messengers of the gospel (v. 11).

In our Markan gospel we read:

 “8 He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. 9 They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.” (Mark 6:8-9).

While these instructions are sparse compared to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, so too is Mark’s prose style in general. For comparison’s sake consider the other synoptic gospels’ missionary instructions:

8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.9 Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts;10 no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep.1(Matthew 10:8–10)

3 He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.4 Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. (Luke 9:3)

3 Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.4 Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. (Luke 10:3-4; instructions for a later mission)

35 He said to them, “When I sent you forth without a money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?” “No, nothing,” they replied.36 He said to them, “But now one who has a money bag should take it, and likewise a sack, and one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one. (Luke 22:35-36; instructions during Holy Week)

Why the variant in the missionary commands? The early instructions agree regarding money/travel sack, etc, there is a slight variation in terms of sandals. Some scholars offer that Mark is reporting early Christian missionary practice, more akin to the later mission instructions in Luke 23:35-36 instructions in which missioners are sent into the world with baggage, gold and sword – and given the context, sandals and a second tunic/cloak. That seems a bit of a stretch given as the later Lukan instructions are, by comparison, a full set of gear. The early mission instructions really only differ as regards sandals.

Perkins [595] reports that the tradition carried in Matthew and the early chapters of Luke might well be a means to distinguish the missioners from other wandering preachers of the day. The Cynics were noted for carrying a bag and a staff; the staff was sometimes used against the audience as well as against animals. The Cynics challenged the presumptions of culture by claiming that it created unnatural needs and passions.

“Another thread of thought is that not allowing the second tunic or sandals (Matthew and early Luke), emphasized the urgency of eschatological judgment. Such judgment can be seen in Luke’s gospel where the towns that reject the message can expect to experience God’s wrath (Luke 10:11–12). Mark’s “testimony against them” (v. 11) suggests condemnation in the judgment given the context of preaching repentance (v.12). In any case eschatological judgment is elsewhere evident in Mark (e.g. Mark 11).” (Perkins, 595)

Mark’s instructions permit the disciples adequate clothing, but not a second tunic, which would have provided protection from the cold night air. Rather, they are to trust God to provide lodging each night. They are not permitted to carry money or extra provisions from one place to another. The disciples were to depend on local hospitality. Thus it is clear that the disciples are not engaged in preaching and healing in order to make money, which may have subjected them to the charge of being religious charlatans or magicians. Since they were required to remain in the first house that welcomed them (v. 10), they could not move to a household that offered more luxurious accommodations. Mark lacks telling the reason for such hospitality referred to in Matthew 10:10 and Luke 10:7 – the laborer deserves his keep/payment.

Image credit: The Exhortation to the Apostles | James Tissot | ca. 1890 | Brooklyn Museum NYC | PD-US