Sent Out, and Herod's Question
1 He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them out to preach God’s Kingdom and to heal the sick. 3 He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey—no staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money. Don’t have two tunics each. 4 Into whatever house you enter, stay there, and depart from there. 5 As many as don’t receive you, when you depart from that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them.” 6 They departed and went throughout the villages, preaching the Good News and healing everywhere. 7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, 8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. 9 Herod said, “I beheaded John, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” He sought to see him.
The twelve are sent with nothing, and a guilty tetrarch starts asking who this is.
He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
The mission is told in the earliest account Mark 6:1–29. What they are given is delegated — he gave — and it is the same pair of things he has been doing himself for five chapters. They are not sent to describe the work; they are sent to do it.
"Take nothing for your journey: no staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money. Don't have two coats apiece" Luke 9:3. The list is designed to remove every fallback. A traveler without a bag or a spare coat is dependent on hospitality by the end of the first day, which is the arrangement rather than an oversight — the reception they get becomes part of the message.
As many as don’t receive you, when you depart from that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them.”
The gesture is a formal disclaimer rather than an insult. It says the matter is closed and the responsibility has transferred.
Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,
The account cuts to the palace, and this Gospel's version is distinctive: it gives Herod's state of mind rather than the execution of John, which it has already reported out of sequence Luke 3:19–20.
Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,
The rumors run through the same three options the disciples will report a few verses later — John, Elijah, one of the old prophets Luke 9:19. The public has three categories and he does not fit any of them.
Herod said, “I beheaded John, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” He sought to see him.
The sentence is a confession dressed as a question. He names what he did in the first clause and asks his question in the second, and the two are connected in his own mind whether or not he admits it.
He sought to see him is the line to keep. This Gospel is the one that records the meeting when it finally comes — and when Herod at last has him in a room, he wants a miracle and gets silence Luke 23:8–9.
settled What this mark means