Jesus forces the apostles to recognize their tension about what they think is Glory and power and what Jesus thinks is Glory and power. 

Jesus continues to challenge the apostles and their ideas of the Messiah and the kingdom coming in power.

Jesus begins to make his apostles uncomfortable as he gets them ready for the big moment. 

Jesus tries to help people see the difference between coming to Jesus because we're hungry for a miracle and recognizing that our true hunger is for the miracle worker Himself.

Poor Jesus wants to get away to grieve but so many people need His help.

Jesus sends out His apostles to do the works He's been doing.

The pace of Jesus ministry amps up with some highly public very dramatic miracles which show not only his authority over all things but also his tendency towards acts of compassion in His miracles. 

Jesus often uses parables to shake the confidence of those who are convinced they know exactly what the Kingdom of Heaven looks like.  Possibly you don't know everything, says Jesus.  So here's some weird ways to think about it!  And it turns out so much of it applies to our own misconceptions perhaps. 

Why does Jesus speak in Parables?  Why does he reserve the explanations only for the closest disciples?  What should we be learning from the Parables? In what ways is the sower of the seed parable a key to the other parables?

We've seen Jesus preaching about the inclusive nature of the Kingdom of Heaven and  and that even the poorest have access to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Now, a visit to a pharisees house prompts a series of events where Jesus demonstrates forcefully that everyone is welcome to the Kingdom of Heaven.  The only people who can't come in are those who refuse the only way in there is, Jesus Himself.