They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What can this new doctrine be? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!”
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 27. It is observed by S. Justin, (Apol. i. 54) that the discourses of Jesus were short and concise. Saint John Chrysostom (in hom. xlviii in Matt.) says, that Christ here accommodated his preaching to his hearers, and to his subject. The ancients differ as to the length of time employed by Christ in the ministry of the word. It is most probable that he spent about three years in announcing to the world his heavenly doctrines. In the first year of his preaching, he seems not to have met with any great opposition; and on this account it may have been called, by the prophet Isaias, the acceptable year. Sandinus.—What is this new doctrine? In the Greek, This new manner of instructing. See below, 14:2, and 12:38.