They were ‘not able to listen’ to his word. Their instinctive reaction to Jesus, based on their predisposition, was one of incomprehension. They drew a blank as far as the true meaning of his word was concerned. James Fisher, in his famous catechism explaining the Shorter Catechism, asks ‘Wherewith is the understanding corrupted?’ and answers, ‘With darkness and blindness, so that we cannot know and receive the things of the Spirit
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