“The prophet Daniel spoke about ‘the hated thing that destroys.’ (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) Someday you will see it standing in the holy place. The reader should understand this.
“How terrible for you authorities on the law! You have taken away the key to the door of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered. And you have stood in the way of those who were entering.”
The seed on the path stands for God’s message in the hearts of those who hear. But then the devil comes. He takes away the message from their hearts. He does it so they won’t believe. Then they can’t be saved.
“We gave you clear orders not to teach in Jesus’ name,” he said. “But you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. You want to make us guilty of this man’s death.”