“feared.” Better than “was afraid of” here because there is an element of holy awe with the fear.

“liked to listen to him.” The Greek we translate as “like to” is hēdeōs (#2234 ἡδέως; pronounced hay-de-ōs) and it means with pleasure, with delight, gladly. This shows that people can hear the Word of God taught and enjoy it, but not have it change their lives (see commentary on Mark 12:37).