Jesus asked hundreds, if not thousands, of questions during His earthly ministry. He asked questions of religious leaders, disciples, and strangers. Sometimes those questions put people on edge and made them uncomfortable, sometimes they tested a person’s faith in God, and sometimes they started a conversation.
What may be most interesting about all of His questions is that He knew every answer before He even asked. John wrote, “He knew all men…for He knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25). Jesus did not need to ask questions to gain information, learn more about a person’s preference, or determine a person’s state of mind. But then why ask so many questions?
Every question asked by Jesus and recorded in the Bible was asked for the benefit of mankind (Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). His questions caused people to think, pushed them to choose, and prompted them to answer. We might read His questions today, letting His words quickly pass through our minds as we anticipate the answer, but there is much we can learn from the questions themselves.
For the next several Sunday evenings, we will be considering some of the powerful questions asked by the Son of God. For example, “Do you wish to get well?” (John 5:6), “Why are you afraid…?” (Matthew 8:26), “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17), and others.
Matt Langfield