And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
The call to hear and understand comes when scribes and Pharisees arrive to find grounds for accusing Jesus, in a renewal of opposition following His work in Galilee and the mission of the twelve. The immediate dispute concerns ceremonial handwashing, where human traditions are treated as more sacred than God's law and attention to unrequired purification rites distracts people from the law's great principles. In that setting Jesus turns from the caviling leaders to the gathered multitude, calling them to hear and understand.
The call is given with authoritative, unhesitating speech that flashes light on all around, in plain, direct, forcible and brief words that lay down the true meaning of sin and pollution. The multitude eagerly catch every word as words never heard before, being in a far more receptive state of mind than the leaders when the Scriptures are opened directly to them. Spoken in the hearing of the multitude, the words infuriate the ecclesiastical powers who are seeking to destroy His influence over the people, yet they flash forth divine truth that silences those powers so they dare ask no further questions. Punishment will fall on those who lead the people away from the path of rectitude.
The call to hear and understand comes when scribes and Pharisees arrive to find grounds for accusing Jesus, in a renewal of opposition following His work in Galilee and the mission of the twelve. The immediate dispute concerns ceremonial handwashing, where human traditions are treated as more sacred than God's law and attention to unrequired purification rites distracts people from the law's great principles. In that setting Jesus turns from the caviling leaders to the gathered multitude, calling them to hear and understand.
The call is given with authoritative, unhesitating speech that flashes light on all around, in plain, direct, forcible and brief words that lay down the true meaning of sin and pollution. The multitude eagerly catch every word as words never heard before, being in a far more receptive state of mind than the leaders when the Scriptures are opened directly to them. Spoken in the hearing of the multitude, the words infuriate the ecclesiastical powers who are seeking to destroy His influence over the people, yet they flash forth divine truth that silences those powers so they dare ask no further questions. Punishment will fall on those who lead the people away from the path of rectitude.