The hearers recognized the warning. But notwithstanding the sentence they themselves had pronounced, the priests and rulers were ready to fill out the picture by saying, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him." "But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitude," for the public sentiment was in Christ's favor.

De, som hørte det, forstod advarslen. Men på trods af den dom, som de selv havde afsagt, var præsterne og rådsherrerne rede til at fuldende billedet ved at sige: "Det er arvingen; kom, lad os slå ham ihjel!" "Og de søgte at gribe ham, men frygtede for skarerne," thi folkestemningen var på Kristi side.