The lawyer knew that he had kept neither the first four nor the last six commandments. He was convicted under Christ's searching words, but instead of confessing his sin he tried to excuse it. Rather than acknowledge the truth, he endeavored to show how difficult of fulfillment the 379 commandment is. Thus he hoped both to parry conviction and to vindicate himself in the eyes of the people. The Saviour's words had shown that his question was needless, since he was able to answer it himself. Yet he put another question, saying, "Who is my neighbour?"

Den lovkyndige vidste, at han hverken havde holdt de første fire eller de sidste seks bud. Han følte sig fordømt, da han hørte Jesu ransagende ord, men i stedet for at bekende sin synd prøvede han på at undskylde den. Han forsøgte at vise, hvor vanskeligt det er at holde hele loven hellere end at erkende sandheden. Ved at gøre det håbede han at berolige sin samvittighed og at retfærdiggøre sig i folkets øjne. Frelserens ord havde vist, at hans spørgsmål var unødvendigt, siden han selv kunne svare på det. Alligevel stillede han endnu et spørgsmål: "Hvem er så min næste?"