I recently came across a book with the title, ‘Jesus is the Question. The 307 questions Jesus asked and the 3 he answered.’ On the back of the book it says, ‘Contrary to common assumptions, Jesus is not the ultimate Answer Man, but more like the Great Questioner.’
Today’s Gospel reading includes five questions in the space of just thirteen verses, with Jesus asking three of them.
An expert in the law asks Jesus about eternal life, but rather than giving him the answer, Jesus asks him what he thinks. The lawyer asks a follow up question about who his neighbour is, and Jesus tells a story and then asks him again what he thinks. It is fascinating to see Jesus’ approach. He responds to the questions even though the expert’s motives are not really genuine (he is testing Jesus and trying to justify himself) and he uses questions and a story to challenge him to think.
I am reminded of a piece in Jostein Gaarder’s children’s story, ‘Hello? Is anybody there?’. Joe, an earthling, meets Mika from another planet and discovers that where Mika comes from, if someone asks a question you are expected to respond by bowing. Joe makes the mistake of bowing for an answer and so Mika corrects him… ‘an answer is never worth bowing for,’ said Mika. ‘Even if it sounds clever and correct, you still shouldn’t bow for it.’ I nodded, but I was sorry the moment I’d done it, in case Mika thought I was bowing for the answer he’d just given. ‘When you bow, you give way,’ continued Mika. ‘You must never give way to an answer.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘An answer is always the stretch of road that’s behind you. Only a question can point the way forward.’ His words sounded so wise that I had to stop myself bowing again.’
Questions can be misused and I am sure many a school pupil has asked a question in order to divert the teacher and avoid having to get on with the written work! Genuine questions, however, arise out of a healthy curiosity and the desire to know and understand, to pursue the truth and to go deeper. Following Jesus involves asking questions, and more importantly allowing him to question us.
So, let’s keep on questioning and allowing ourselves to be questioned. On Sunday the key question is, ‘what does it mean to love my neighbour as I love myself’?
I look forward to exploring this together.
With best wishes,
Stephen