It is alleged that the Gospel writers contradict each other concerning whether Jesus allowed his disciples to take a staff on their journey or not. Let’s look at those verses.
(Mark 6:8) He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—
(Matthew 10:9-10) Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.
(Luke 9:3) And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.
In Matthew we read the English translation of the Greek word “ktesthe”, which is rendered in the King James (Authorized) translation as “Provide neither gold, nor silver nor brass in your purses”. According to a Greek dictionary this word means “to get for oneself, to acquire, to procure, by purchase or otherwise” (Robinson, Lexicon of the New Testament). Therefore in Matthew Jesus is saying “Do not procure anything in addition to what you already have. Just go as you are.”
Matthew 10 and Mark 6 agree that Jesus directed his disciples to take along no extra equipment. Luke 9:3 agrees in part with the wording of Mark 6:8, using the verb in Greek, (“take“); but then, like Matthew 10:9 adds “no staff, no bag, no bread, no money”. But Matthew 10:10 includes what was apparently a further clarification: they were not to acquire a staff as part of their special equipment for the tour. Mark 6:8 seems to indicate that this did not necessarily involve discarding any staff they already had as they traveled the country with Jesus.
(Luke 9:3 KJV) And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves…
In the original Greek, the Greek word ραβδους for staves in Luke is a plural word, hence Jesus is advising the disciples not get extra staves, just keep their own without carrying an extra one. The point was for the men to go on this journey as they were geared up at that moment – a big step of faith.
