The crowd said, “We’re talking about freedom,” but Jesus said, “No, you’re talking about killing.” Jesus was unmasking what lay behind the crowd’s euphemistic use of words like freedom. Jesus was telling them a truth about themselves that had long been hidden from them—a truth they really don’t want to know. Jesus also understood that in revealing this truth to the crowd, he would become their enemy and they would seek to kill him. And what happened? By the end of the chapter the crowd was seeking to stone Jesus. Six months later they cried out for his crucifixion.
