When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. The descent from the mountain after the Sermon is the transition from words to works: chapters 8–9 demonstrate the authority in action that the crowds sensed at the end of chapter 7. The great crowds who followed from the mountain are the crowds who have been astonished and who now witness the authority expressed not in teaching but in healing, exorcism, and nature-control. The Sermon announced the kingdom; chapters 8–9 demonstrate it. John 10:25 says the works Jesus does in the Father's name bear witness about him — the works of power that follow the Sermon are the validation of the words that preceded them.

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