Although Jesus was in the last week of His earthly life before His crucifixion it didn’t stop Him interacting with people. The chief priests, teachers of the law and elders were still attacking Him verbally. ‘By what authority are You doing these things?’ they asked. As so often Jesus answered their question with a question of His own. ‘John’s baptism, was it from heaven or of human origin?’ Jesus knew there was no safe answer to His question. If they said ‘from heaven’ they would be forced to believe in Him. If they replied ‘from earth’ they would incur the wrath of the crowds,. Once again Jesus had the upper hand.
The Sadducees who didn’t believe in resurrection posed the question of a seven times widowed woman. ‘At the resurrection whose wife will she be?’ ‘God is not the God of the dead but of the living.’ Again His accusers had no answer.
A teacher of the law asked what is the greatest commandment?’ Jesus pointed to the one that the teacher and us fail to obey. ‘Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.’ That causes us all to soul-search.