Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees, when they heard that word, were offended?”
In this passage the disciples warn Jesus that the Pharisees have been offended by His words. Jesus so directly and sharply overturns their traditional teachings (for example, that it is not food that defiles a person) that it causes great distress to the religious leaders. This passage shows two things: 1) The Pharisees’ spiritual blindness: instead of repenting and accepting the truth, they take offense, because Jesus’ word shakes their self-sufficient traditions. 2) The disciples’ anxiety: they still have not fully understood that the truth is more important than people’s opinion or caution toward authorities.