And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. And as they heard these things - I believe the participle of the present tense, here, is used for the participle of the past, or rather that the participle of the present conveys sometimes the sense of the past; for this discourse appears to have taken place the next day after he had lodged at the house of Zaccheus; for the text says that he was then drawing nigh to Jerusalem, from which Jericho was distant nineteen miles. I have not ventured to translate it so, yet I think probably the text should be read thus: And after they had heard these things, he proceeded to speak a parable, because they were nigh to Jerusalem.
Immediately appear - Perhaps the generality of his followers thought that, on his arrival at Jerusalem, he would proclaim himself king.