The Questions We Ask Ch. 2

Recap

God’s original view of humanity was not one of constant struggle but perfect communion

Christ is truly God and yet fully man and it is in his humanity we are called to follow in

Christ was not only the perfect example of what humanity was intended to look like, but he taught us how to follow in his footsteps in the way he lived his life.

It is in the knowledge of Christ’s humanity that provides us an avenue for Christlikeness. We cannot imitate Christ in His divinity, sovereignty, authority, but in His humanity.

The Big Questions

Luke 2:41-52

Luke 2:41–52 ESV

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

What Are We Really Asking?

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who asks a ton of questions?

After a while it can become like a game of mental gymnastics, at least for me.

Maybe I’m the only one like this, but there is internal monologue going on that is trying to determine the motivation for the questions you are being asked so that you can either answer the deep question that someone is actually trying to ask you, or present your answers in such a way that deters them from the criticism that they are planning to offer.

At the end of it all I personally find myself asking, “what are you really asking?”

It is the motivations for the very questions that we ask that tell us much more about ourselves than the answers we provide. There is a perfect example of such questions asked by Mary and Joseph in verse 48.

Luke 2:48 “And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.””

This question is very reasonable to say the least. I would question the integrity of the parent that does not ask their child this very question after being missing for 3 days. However, we can see from the second part of this verse that this question was not motivated by righteous intent, but with distress and worry.

Jesus responds to the nature of his parent’s question, not with the answer they are seeking, but with a simple question that re-frames their entire perspective of the events that transpired.

We will find in the Scripture time and again that when Jesus asks a question, it is motivated not from a place of ignorance but from a place of knowledge. Christ’s questions are not like our questions.

Motivations for Jesus’ Questions

When we ask questions in this life there are many motivations behind them: seeking of knowledge, pride, advantage, anger, worry, frustration, disdain, sorrow, pain, curiosity, etc… To be clear, there is nothing wrong with asking questions motivated in any of these manners, but it is imperative that we understand some of the motivations of our questions that we might understand that Christ’s questions are not motivated in the same way.

According to theexaltedchrist.com, there are five motivations for Christ’s questions in Scripture.

Teaching

Mark 8:31-38

Mark 8:31–38 ESV

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

In this example, Jesus is speaking to His disciples and the crowd. He asks the rhetorical questions, For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? It is clear that Jesus is not addressing a specific individual. He is asking for a response. He is using the questions to teach the crowd. He wants them to be introspective, or do some self-examination.

Jesus was teaching them that there is nothing that this world can offer a man that is greater than the gift of eternal life. That man cannot purchase this gift. Eternal life is found only in Jesus Christ. Received only by faith.

Testing

John 6:1-15

John 6:1–8 ESV

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,

This instance is hopefully very clear. The text tells us that Jesus asks the question to Philip to test him. Philip did not pass the test. He was looking to what is seen. Rather than looking to the power of God demonstrated in the Messiah, Jesus. The answer Philip gave demonstrated what was in his heart.

Believing

John 6:60-71

John 6:60–71 ESV

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

One of the most important questions that man must answer is, Do you believe this? Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world? Martha answered this question of faith positively. She believed. Will you so easily leave Jesus as many so many others have? Or will you cling to Him, no matter what, because He has the words of eternal life?

Rebuking

Matthew 21:23-32

Matthew 21:23–32 ESV

And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

The context of this passage makes it clear that Jesus is asking questions to rebuke the religious leaders and the people. He is rebuking them for their disbelief and subsequent rejection of God. The Son of God, Jesus, was standing in their midst. And they received Him not.

Instead of repenting and changing their minds and believing in Him, they hardened their hearts. They persisted in their disbelief. They crucified the Son of God. They handed Him over into the hands of lawless men to be crucified. In fulfillment of the Scriptures.

Proclaiming

Matthew 16:13-20

Matthew 16:13–20 ESV

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus asks Peter, “But who do you say that I am?” The response the Lord desired was that of proclamation. Essentially, Jesus is saying, it doesn’t matter who others say I am. Ultimately, what matters is: who do you say that I am? The Father in heaven revealed to Peter who Jesus really is. Peter responds correctly, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Peter proclaims! This is an incredibly important proclamation for all of mankind to make and truly believe. Who do you say that Jesus is? Does your response proclaim truth?

The Questions We Ask Ourselves

What are the questions we ask ourselves?

What are the motivations behind them?

What answers have we come up with that we have taken without compromise?

The goal of this message is not to uncover all the answers to these questions, but to begin asking them.

What are the hardest questions for me to answer in my life right now?

What is the hardest thing for me to believe about myself?

What questions do I find myself asking God?

What are His questions in response to mine?