When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them (a scholar of the law) tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." (Mt 22:34-40)
Jesus was opposed by Priests, Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes. These four groups were the leading groups in Israel. They were also the powerful groups in Israel. The four together controlled the Jewish society. The Priests controlled the religious aspect of the society and the Pharisees controlled the customs and practices (culture); the Scribes controlled the ‘thought world’ of the society and the Sadducees controlled the wealth (economy) of the society.
In the case of Jesus all the four came together against him. They also opposed him individually and together. They posed questions against him in their own areas of interest and tried to control Jesus and make him part of the social system. Jesus was within the system but he was constantly purifying the system with kingdom values which in certain cases disturbed the leading members of the society.
The answer given by Jesus was within the Scripture traditions and hence none of them could find fault with Jesus. Scripture traditions were the basis for all the leaders of the Jewish community. Individual traditions of the four groups were the product of Bible traditions. Jesus was firmly rooted on the Bible and hence he was out of danger. When he answered one he silenced four so to say.
