<p>7:26 <i>And lo, he speaks openly and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is the Christ?</i>- They wondered whether the rulers had abandoned their well-known plans to kill the Lord because actually they now recognized Him as Messiah. The Lord's openness of 'boldness' of speaking was emulated by the disciples- the same word is used throughout Acts of their witness. He wished that His hearers would come out as openly as He had; for we learnt in :13 that His hearers feared to speak openly of Him as He did of Himself. </p>