MATTHEW 12:15 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;”
Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all. Jesus' withdrawal is not retreat but strategic movement: aware of the conspiracy, he avoids the confrontation before the appointed time. The many who follow and the healing of all of them communicate the continued fruitfulness of his ministry despite the Pharisaic opposition. The withdrawal from danger is paired with the continued healing — the opposition cannot stop the kingdom's advance.
Church Fathers on Matthew 12:15
The Pharisees are moved with jealousy at what had been done; because beholding the outward body of a man, they did not recognize the God in His works; 'The Pharisees sent out and sought counsel against him, how they ought destroy him.'
He says, 'went out' because their mind was alien from the Lord. They took counsel how they might destroy life, not how themselves might find life.
Knowing, that is, their designs against Him withdrew Himself, that He might remove from the Pharisees all opportunity of sin.
Read all 32 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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