<p>15:16&nbsp;<em>And he said: Are you still without understanding?</em></p>
<div>- The emphasis may be on the &ldquo;still&rdquo;- He says the same in the next verse, &ldquo;Do you&nbsp;<em>still not</em>&nbsp;understand?&rdquo;. The Lord asked the disciples; as if to say that He was surprised the disciples still hadn&rsquo;t come to the understanding which He hoped the Pharisees soon would. The crowds that followed the Lord didn&rsquo;t understand His parables; in fact, He spoke in parables so that they wouldn&rsquo;t understand, as He intended His teaching only to be grasped by the disciples (Mk. 7:17,18). Therefore, in that very context, it is significant to read of the Lord&rsquo;s frustration and disappointment when the disciples likewise didn&rsquo;t understand the parables. And the record goes on to show that in fact it was a regular occurrence, that they like the crowds didn&rsquo;t understand the parables, and the Lord had to explain to them later. So the disciples, contrary to the Lord&rsquo;s high hopes of them, were no better than the crowds. They too &lsquo;didn&rsquo;t get it&rsquo;; and Mark&rsquo;s [i.e. Peter&rsquo;s] record of the Gospel therefore brings out the point that they too, the ones now preaching to the crowds, only got the understanding they did of the Lord by an undeserved grace. This is the kind of humility we need in our teaching of others, especially when it involves correcting their lack of understanding on a point.</div>