“Jesus appointed twelve.
They were to be with him.
He called them apostles.
He sent them out
To preach.
They would have authority
To cast out demons.”
καὶ ἐποίησεν δώδεκα ἵνα ὦσιν μετ’ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀποστόλους ὠνόμασεν καὶ ἵνα ἀποστέλλῃ αὐτοὺς κηρύσσειν
καὶ ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν ἐκβάλλειν τὰ δαιμόνια·
Mark explicitly indicated what the role of these special 12 apostles should be. Quite often they are called the “12” instead of “the apostles”. They had a dual function as apostles, since they were to preach and cast out demons. Mark said that Jesus appointed 12 of his disciples (καὶ ἐποίησεν δώδεκα) to be with him, called apostles (καὶ ἀποστόλους ὠνόμασεν). He sent them out to preach (καὶ ἵνα ἀποστέλλῃ αὐτοὺς κηρύσσειν). They would have authority to cast out demons (καὶ ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν ἐκβάλλειν τὰ δαιμόνια). In other words, Jesus was giving his own power or authority to cast out evil spirits to these 12 disciples or apostles. This would be referred to later as the apostolic authority. Matthew, chapter 10:1, also said that they had the authority to heal people also. This was a big deal. The number 12 corresponded to the number of sons of Jacob or the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus thus established these 12 disciples as apostles to carry on his work of preaching and casting out or exorcising evil spirits.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 