Note 1 at Mt. 22:46: The religious leaders of the Jews had sought to discredit Jesus many times by asking Him "loaded" questions to which they thought any answer He gave would be the wrong one. On this particular day, Jesus had been asked three questions by the Pharisees, Herodians, and the Sadducees. The first question had been from a coalition of the Pharisees and Herodians and was on the subject of paying taxes (see note 1 at Lk. 20:20, p. 377). The second was from the Sadducees on whether or not there was a resurrection (see note 1 at Lk. 20:29, p. 381), and the third came from a lawyer of the Pharisees on what was the greatest commandment (see note 1 at Mt. 22:36, p. 382).

All of these questions were intended to snare Jesus (Mt. 22:15). Jesus not only evaded their traps, but also, in His infinitely superior wisdom, He had actually "turned the tables" on these Jews and made them look like fools. Now He "rubs salt in their wounds" by asking them a question which they were unable to answer. These Jews who prided themselves on having superior knowledge (Jn. 9:34) were totally humiliated by a man who had never been through their religious "seminary" (Jn. 7:15). This resulted in them being afraid to ever try to trap Jesus by questions again.