Lent 2026 Day 25: Wed 18 Mar
Mark 6:12-13
12 So they set out and preached that the people should repent. 13 They also drove out many demons and healed many of the sick, anointing them with oil.
The message was repentance. It’s still needed today. We might avoid talking about sin in case we put people off, but it’s not about sensitivities, it’s about salvation. Jesus Christ is alive and uses us to share his Good News! Acknowledgement of sin is an integral part of giving ourselves to the Saviour, for without that he can hardly save us from sin!
I don’t think that a billboard displaying “the wages of sin is death” helps convey a positive message. I still shudder when I think of that man in Ipswich town centre, clearly fed up with the lack of attention he was getting from his holy hectoring, shouting at the shoppers, “Is it nothing to you, all ye who pass by?” There are so many wrong things about using that quote in that context. How about “Come and see”. I’d be more interested in a genuine personal conversation with someone who listened first and shared second.
It was important, however, for the disciples to preach repentance. People probably had a little more time to listen, and the disciples’ authority to preach in that way was backed up by their permission to cast out demons and, implied, to heal sick people and anoint them with oil. The act of anointing was a mark of holiness and dedication to God, a seal on their healing. So, take some oil as well as a stick and sandals!
Jesus warned that there may be those who would refuse to hear. We might avoid making gestures these days like shaking the dust of the town from our sandals as we left, but that’s what Jesus had ordered. No incidents are recorded by Mark of that actually happening, but Luke does mention something in the book of Acts.
The disciples were still apprentices to Jesus, but they appear to have done what was asked of them. Even Judas Iscariot and his partner.
How likely are the following to convince an unbeliever – a big church mission event, a small group in the street or a conversation initiated by a friend?
Who converts people?
Father God, give me a heart to intercede for those who seem far from the Kingdom, that you will warm and soften the hearts of those who have rejected or ridiculed you. Give me a burden to persist in prayer for those whose names you lay on my heart. Amen.
Mark 6 Max McLean
Paul