Well, he got more than he bargained for. In today’s Gospel (Matthew 22:34-40), all the scholar of the law wanted was a Gotcha! moment by catching Jesus in some controversy. As with the other tests, however, our Lord not only bests his opponents but rises above them and raises the discussion to a level they had not anticipated. Thus, the scholar asks for only one commandment. . .but he gets two. . .with a third slipped in between them. And he hadn’t bargained for that.
To appreciate this exchange, we should imagine ourselves in the place of the scholar of the law. Because we are like him: we put our Lord to the test and want to prove ourselves right. So, since we do what he does, we should also hear our Lord’s response as he does.
The Pharisee gets off to a bad start: “Teacher,” he says. Well, Jesus is more than a teacher. Yes, He teaches, but He does so with divine authority and unlike anyone else. He is the only teacher whose instruction deserves our complete trust. When we approach Him as a mere teacher, we make Him one among many. At that point, we’re not seeking
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