One
of the largest mistakes people make in reading the scripture is that they read
it as a spectator. For the bystander, the Bible
is a collection of historical stories that took place thousands of years ago. The Bible is our own story. We are in it. To read
scripture as a mere spectator looking on is to miss the keynote. You can be
Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Deborah, Jeremiah, Ruth, Peter, Paul, Magdalene, and
Mother Mary.
There is another important key to unlocking the scripture.
You must answer the question. Among the many things Jesus did was to ask
lots of questions. Whenever you see one of Jesus’ questions in the gospels,
answer it. Do not wait to see what Peter, Magdalene, the Pharisees, or the
crowd say for an answer. You answer the question in your own words to bring the
scripture alive powerfully.
I will give the verse reference so you can look it up.
But, unless
you really think it necessary, avoid looking it up at first. Just let the
question meet you where you are right now. The question may mean something for
you that are very different that it’s original context. But that is OK. Just
pick a question, read it, consider it and answer it, by talking to the Lord.
We often have questions for our
Heavenly Father like: Where are you? Why did You allow this? What kind of good
can come out of this? Our Heavenly Father has questions of us as well. He knows
all things. The questions God asked throughout the Bible were meant to make us think, to repent, and to return to Him.
God’s first question was to Adam in
Genesis 3:9: Where are you? All the other questions He asked of mankind were
similar, as if to say: What is going on in your heart? Who are you listening
to? What do you believe about Me? Is it true? Below are ten questions Jesus asked in the gospels. Let’s discover the
importance of those questions (and their answers) in today’s society:
1.
Are you also going to leave? Jesus said some
things that were pretty hard for people of His day to swallow. He said things
like “anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise that person at the last day. Scripture tells us, “At this point many of
his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the
Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Jesus’ words – and
much of the New Testament letters – are especially difficult for people today.
His words seemed intolerant, his ideas radical, His statements, at times,
seemed judgmental.
Wouldn’t you rather have a God you
can conform to your own image, one who goes along with everything you believe
is right today? Are you also going to leave? May our response be as pure and
undefiled as Simon Peter’s: “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that
give eternal life.”
2.
Do you believe? Many people came to Jesus asking for
something: a miracle, a healing, and a free lunch. Jesus challenged them with
this question to expose their motives. Did they want a hand-out or did they
truly believe Who He was and what He could do? When we come to God with our
shopping lists, the question that remains on Jesus’ heart is “Do you believe?”
May our response to Him be like that of the demon-possessed boy’s father who
replied honestly: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief?”
3.
Do you love me? Jesus asked this of Peter, not once, but three
times, after his disciple–who claimed to be the most loyal of the bunch–had
three times publicly denied knowing Jesus on the night of his arrest and
crucifixion. Jesus asked this question three times as a gift to Peter. He gave
him the chance to three times reaffirm his love for his Lord, after having
blown it a few days earlier. Have you
blown it with Christ, too? It’s never too late to reaffirm your love for Him.
Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
your entire mind.” His question to Peter penetrates our hearts daily as we are
faced with a choice: Will we follow Him or the world, Him or our money, or Him
or another love? Do you love Me? How I long for my answer to be: Yes,
Lord, more than anything. “Whom have I in heaven but You and earth has nothing
I desire besides you.”
4.
Do you still not see or understand? Jesus likely asked this question out of frustration. No
matter what they saw Him do, His disciples still didn’t get it. Jesus had just
fed four thousand people with seven loaves of bread and a few fish. Prior to
that, he had fed another 5,000 with just five loaves of bread and two fish,
healed a deaf and mute man, cast a demon out of a young girl just by saying the
words, and walked on water in front of them while they watched from a
storm-tossed boat. What more did they need to see to understand that He was the
Son of God? What have you seen Jesus do?
How many coincidences do you have to
experience to know His hand is working in your life? How many times does He
have to come through for you financially to make you trust His provision? May
our answer to His question be: Open my eyes to see You for who You really are
and to never again doubt Your presence, Your power, or Your provision.
5.
Do you want to get well? This seemed like an
odd question for Jesus to ask a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. The
man had been lying by the pool of Bethesda waiting to be cured by a Spirit that
would occasionally stir up the waters. Jesus wanted to know if the man knew
what he wanted. That man might have been so wrapped up in his unfortunate
situation that he identified himself as “the one who has been here the
longest.” If Jesus cured him, who would he be?
When we complain to God with excuses
as to why we are still in the same place, spiritually or emotionally, year
after year, perhaps the question He still aims at our hearts is Do you want to
get well? Do you want to move forward, spiritually? Do you want to make
progress emotionally?
Do you want to go to a new place where God can
be your all-in-all not the situation that you have let define you? May our
response to His question be: Lord Jesus, I want You. Open my eyes to see You
for Who You are. Open my ears to hear Your voice. Heal my legs so I can follow
You. Heal my heart so I can love You more.
6.
What does scripture say? Scripture tells us
that an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus and asked Him what he must do
to inherit eternal life. Jesus answered the question by asking the
religious leader a question, “What is written in the Law? How do you read
it?” When the man quoted the Greatest Commandment, Jesus replied, “Do
this and you will live.” Scripture is our sole authority today. It is referred
to as the living Word of God tells us “All Scripture is God-breathed and
is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work.”
When you’re in a predicament, when
you have to choose between offending someone else or offending God, when you
have to draw a line, instead of asking, “What would Jesus do?” and taking your
best guess, ask instead, “What do the Scriptures say?” After all, that is what
Jesus would say if you asked Him what He would do.
7.
Who do you say I am? Many people were confused about Jesus’
identity. Some people were saying He was Elijah. Others said He was Jeremiah or
a prophet. Some believed He was a good teacher or a great magician. Jesus asked
this question of His followers in Matthew
16:15, not for His own affirmation, but
because who they believed He was would make all the difference in their lives.
He wanted them to be able to answer
the question accurately. Who do you say that Jesus is? Is He a good man, a
great teacher, one of many ways to heaven, or is He the Way, the Truth, and the
Life? I want my answer to be like Peter’s: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the
living God.”
8.
Who touched me? In a crowded place, where people were
brushing up on all sides of Him, Jesus asked this question, not because He
didn’t know who touched him, but because He wanted everyone else to know. Jesus
was well aware of the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 long years and had
spent every last cent she owned trying to get well, but only got worse.
He knew she was desperate to be healed. He
knew what she risked by going out in public and touching a Rabbi, which would,
under Jewish law, make Him ceremoniously unclean. Jesus asked the question
because He wanted her to speak up. He wanted her story to be told. “Then
the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and,
trembling with fear, told Him the whole truth.” She told her story—publicly.
Everyone there suddenly knew who she
was, what her condition had been, and how she had been healed by simply
touching Jesus’ garment. Have you experienced Jesus’ healing touch? Has He
forgiven you and given you a new lease on life? Then tell your story so God
will be glorified.
9.
Why are you so afraid? Jesus asked His followers why they were so
afraid their boat would overturn on account of some wind and waves especially
since He was right there in the boat with them. If the Son of God was in their
midst, they would safely get to the other side of the lake. You and I have
Jesus with us in every circumstance we encounter. He has promised to never
leave us or desert us. What are we so afraid of? I want my answer to be to
forgive me, Lord, for fearing that anything is stronger than You or outside of
Your control.
10.
Why did you doubt? It’s easy to believe in God when we’re asking
for our daily needs and for God to bless our jobs and keep our families safe,
but what about when God asks you to do the impossible? When Jesus’
disciples saw Jesus walking on the water in the midst of a storm, they were terrified
and thought he was a ghost. Then, Peter said, “Lord, if it’s you tell me to
come to you on the water.” Jesus told him to “Come.” Scripture tells us
“Then Peter got down out of the
boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he
was afraid, and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately,
Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” He
said, “why did you doubt?” Do you still doubt Jesus after what You’ve seen Him
accomplish in your life? If Jesus can walk on the water, turn water into wine,
and give you living water, surely He can keep you from the waters that threaten
to rock you’re the boat of your life.
“Good teaching is more a giving of right
questions than a giving of right answers.”
(Josef Albers) [i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“10
Questions Jesus Asked (and Why They Matter Today)” by Cindi McMenamin
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