26 Jesus Feeds 5,000

These verses serve as a transition back to the teaching ministry of the Lord Jesus from the story of John the Baptist’s execution. When the apostles returned to Jesus from their evangelizing they had many stores to tell about what they encountered. The word apostle (apostoloi, “delegates, messengers”) means “one sent” as a missionary or an authorized agent for the one that sent them. The term began to be applied to the twelve after Jesus’ death and resurrection (Acts 1:25-26; Ephesians 2:20). Mark uses the term apostles because they had completed their first missionary journey so to speak and they were now officially doing the work of an apostle. The term also applies very narrowly to the original twelve and Paul as a title. As a result of their work and Jesus fame which was spreading rapidly in Israel, the crowds became ever increasingly larger.