Jesus Asks Questions

Many people may assume that Jesus provides direct answers to the questions asked of him. However, some scripture scholars observe that Jesus is asked about 183 questions in the Bible, but answers only three directly. Which three do you think? With respect to the other questions asked of him, Jesus either keeps silent (e.g. John 19:8–9), refuses to respond (e.g. Mark 8:11–12), responds by asking a question (e.g. Matthew 22:17–20), provides an answer that does not directly answer the question asked (e.g. John 13:21–30), amplifies his answer beyond the question asked (e.g. Matthew 22:36–40), tells a parable or provides an illustration (e.g Luke 10:29–37).

Jesus also asks 307 questions of others, displaying how questions were central to Jesus's life and teachings. According to one scholar,

Jesus' questions are to reposition you, make you own your unconscious biases, break you out of your dualistic mind, challenge your image of God or the world, or present new creative possibilities. He himself does not usually wait for or expect specific answers. He hopes to call forth an answering person. He wants to be in relationship with a person, with the idea as it informs the person, and with the process of transformation itself....Jesus asks questions, good questions, unnerving questions, realigning questions, transforming questions...Easy answers instead of hard questions allow us to try to change others instead of allowing God to change us. (emphasis in original).^*

Too many times, we want to avoid difficult questions and would rather just simply accept culture's easy answers. Jesus' questions call us to go deeper into the mystery we call life and our relationships with God, with others, with ourselves, and with all of creation.

We invite you to take some time to reflect on some of the questions asked by Jesus: "Who do people say that I am?" (Mark 8:27) "But who do you say that I am?" (Mark 8:29); "What are you looking for?" (John 1:38); "What do you want me to do for you?" (Mark 10:51); "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" (Mark 8:36–37); "Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your life-span?" (Luke 12:25); "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' but not do what I command?" (Luke 6:46); "If I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me?" (John 8:46);

* Fr. Richard Rohr's "Forward" in John Dear, The Questions of Jesus: Challenging Ourselves to Discover Life's Great Answers (New York: Image Books, 2004), xxii, xxiii; see also, Martin B. Copenhaver, Jesus is the Question: The 307 Questions Jesus Asked and the 3 He Answered (Nashville, TN:Abingdon Press, 2014)