As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables.

But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him [what He meant].

When Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully and intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.

The crowd came up and began asking Pilate to do as he usually did for them.