(The Nationalist, 29 September 2000)
Christians sometimes go to the Bible for answers to questions. When we do, we often come from the Bible with questions to answer.
The questions that Jesus asks in the Gospel – and there are over 120 of them – are a wake-up call to believers. They are an opportunity for a dialogue with Jesus in which he takes the lead. Just imagine Jesus standing in front of you asking you a question. You can’t wriggle out of it; He who is the truth knows the truth. At first sight some of them, like ‘Are you asleep?’ may not seem too hard to answer – until we realize there’s more than one way of being asleep.
Another apparently simple question was: ‘What is your name?’ But does it really mean, ‘Do you know yourself?’ Lots of Jesus’s questions lead to something deeper: ‘Do you see anything?’ He seems to ask whether we can see with the eyes of the mind (understanding) and the eyes of the soul (perceptiveness) as well as the eyes of the body.
Jesus was constantly questioning his disciples to get them to think. He asked, ‘What do you think?’ – one of the few questions that the Gospel records twice. And again, ‘Why do not judge for yourselves what is right?’
He also challenged their lack of faith: ‘Do you believe that I can do this?’ ‘Why did you doubt?’ ‘Why are you afraid, you of little faith?’
‘What are you looking for?’ – may be a question about priorities. ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ may mean ‘Do you know what is for your good?’
Or what about, ‘Do you know what I have done to you?’ That may mean, ‘Are you aware of God’s presence in your life?’ The questions are intended to lead us to awareness about ourselves and our relationship with God.
The question ‘Who are you looking for?’ is one of only two questions that Jesus asks three times. It was put to someone who was looking for him where he wasn’t and failed to see him where he was – standing in front of them. A wake-up call.
The other question asked three times was: ‘Do you love me?’ It’s an inescapable and very difficult question which no one can avoid answering. Maybe we can adapt an answer which was given in the Gospel and say, ‘I love, Lord; help my lack of love.’
And what about, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ – the Son of God or a person of no consequence?
‘What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?’ Our answers to God’s questions will not be found in a theology book, but in life.