Big Idea: Jesus shares his mission with his disciples, but his unique authority is further recognized and is demonstrated in another astonishing nature miracle.

Understanding the Text

The Twelve disciples chosen by Jesus in 6:13–16 have hitherto been merely his companions and audience; now they become his agents as he extends the scope of his mission. In 10:1–12 that delegation of his mission will be further expanded. The reader is thus prepared for the eventual continuation of the movement after Jesus’s death.

The immense popularity of Jesus and his mission is contrasted with the suspicion of Herod Antipas. This parenthetical note prepares the reader for the later death threat from Antipas (13:31) and for the scene in which Antipas eventually meets Jesus directly (23:7–12). Antipas’s q…