<p>12:12 <i>And they sought to arrest him; but they feared the crowd. For they perceived that he had spoken that parable against them; and they left him and went away</i>- The connection with Isaiah 5 was so clear, and that song of the vineyard was a well known passage understood as the justification for the destruction of the first temple. Their &quot;seeking&quot; to arrest Him is the very language of Herod seeking to destroy God's son (Mt. 2:13,20). They were no better than the despised Herod.&nbsp;The Greek for &quot;Lay hands on / arrest&quot; is likewise used for what Herod did to John the Baptist (Mt. 14:3). The Lord uses the same word soon afterwards to describe how His servants will likewise suffer (Mt. 22:6 &quot;The remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully and killed them&quot;). The Lord intends us to see all our sufferings as part of His. Matthew repeatedly uses the word to describe how the Jews laid hands on the Lord to arrest and kill Him (Mt. 26:4,48,50,55,57).&nbsp;We see the fickleness of the crowd. They were soon crying for the Lord's blood.&nbsp;</p>