Commentary

16th Sunday - B
Mark 6:30:34

Blindness of Worldly Success and False Pride

“Jesus appointed the Twelve that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mark 3:14-15). Then, at the beginning of chapter 6 of Mark, Jesus “summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits” (6:7; last week’s Gospel passage).

Mark makes it very clear that the Twelve were sent by Jesus; and that it was by Jesus’ authority that they preached and drove out unclean spirits.

Yet, here the Twelve returned, and “reported all they had done and taught” (6:30). They tell Jesus what they have done, as if it were by their own power.

Moreover, the New American translation uses “report,” a rather mild and neutral verb. In the Greek, the verb used here actually means “announce” or “proclaim.” It is the same verb used by Jesus after he freed the man once possessed by a legion of violent spirits. He said to him, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you" (Mark 5:19).[1]

The Twelve do not just simply report to Jesus. They announce to him what they have done and taught.

And while they think they have done it all, there is still a vast crowd of needy people who track Jesus down to hear him and receive his help. “They are like sheep without a shepherd” (6:34).

The Twelve have allowed temporary successes to blind their eyes to the needs of the people, and pride to blur their minds and hearts from their own need of being Jesus’ disciples.

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[1] Moloney, Francis J., The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002; p. 128.