Jesus asked many interesting questions of various people during His time here on earth. The following are a few taken from the gospel of Luke. You may want to consider what was asked and to whom they were addressed:
1.) In Luke 2:41-52 we find 12-year old Jesus going to Jerusalem to observe the Passover Feast with His family and friends. On their way back to Nazareth, Mary and Joseph noticed that Jesus was missing. They assumed He was with some other members of the family, but when He was not found, they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him. Three days later they found Jesus sitting among the scribes in the temple, listening to them and asking questions. Mary said to Jesus, “Son, why have you worried us? Your father and I have been searching desperately for you these past three days!” Jesus replied, “Why were you so concerned about Me? Don’t you realize I must be about My Father’s business?” Mary and Joseph were puzzled by Jesus’ answer but didn’t question Him further. Jesus went home with them and was subject to their authority. During the next 18 years, Jesus grew in stature and in favor with God and man.
2.) In Luke 5:17-26 we see Jesus who was by then 30 years old. He went throughout
Galilee teaching God’s Word to the people and performing many miracles to prove He was their Messiah. One day a paralytic was brought to Jesus for healing. When Jesus saw the faith of the man’s friends who brought him, He said to the paralytic, “Man, your sins are forgiven … get up and go home.” But when the scribes and Pharisees saw the miracle, they said among themselves, “Only God is able to forgive sins! This man Jesus speaks blasphemy!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus asked, “Why do you question what I have done? Is it easier for Me to say ‘your sins are forgiven’ or ‘get up and walk’?” All who were listening to and observing the incident were amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear saying, “We have seen strange things today.”
3.) Luke 6:1-11 records what happened on a Sabbath day when Jesus and His disciples plucked ears of corn to eat as they walked through a corn field. Certain Pharisees were critical and asked Jesus, “Why are you doing that? Don’t you realize you are breaking the law of the Sabbath?” Jesus responded by asking them, “Have you not read how when David and his men were hungry, they went into the house of God and ate the priest’s shewbread? The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath!”
4.) Luke 6:6-11 records that on still another Sabbath day Jesus entered the synagogue to teach God’s Word, and He saw a man with a withered hand. The Scribes and Pharisees were watching closely to see what Jesus would do in order that they might find a reason to accuse Him of breaking the law of the Sabbath. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand in the midst of My accusers.” The man obeyed, and then Jesus questioned the religious leaders, “Is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath day? Should one save life or destroy life on the Sabbath?” They did not respond, so Jesus looked around the room and then said to the man, “Stretch forth your hand!” When he did, his hand was restored whole as the other. The scribes and Pharisees became filled with madness, and they discussed among themselves what they might do to get rid of Jesus.
5.) Luke 9:1-22 records how after teaching the Word of God and performing many miracles in the sight of the twelve men He had chosen, He called them to Himself and appointed them as apostles to the nation Israel with power and authority over demons and also gave them the ability to cure the sick, and then sent them forth to preach the message of the kingdom.
(it is important to note that after Jesus ascended into heaven in His resurrection body, eleven of those same men became apostles to the Church and were given temporary spiritual gifts to be their credit cards to show they were sent by God until the canon of scripture was completed in about 90 AD)
When the 12 returned to report to Jesus what they had done on their first journey, He took them aside into a desert place. A multitude of people followed, and at the end of the day, the apostles said to Jesus, “Send the people away so they can find food and shelter.” Jesus replied, “You provide food for them.” They objected saying, “How can we do that? All we have here are five loaves of bread and two fish!” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down in groups of fifty.” After they were all seated, Jesus looked up into heaven and blessed the bread and the fish and gave them to the apostles. Over 5,000 men and their families had plenty to eat, and there even twelve baskets of fragments left over. Later, when they were alone, Jesus asked the twelve, “Whom do men say that I am?” They responded, “Some say you are John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets of old.” Then Jesus questioned, “But whom do you say that I am?” Peter answered emphatically, “You are the Christ of God!” Then Jesus gave strict orders that they should tell no one until after He would suffer many things and be rejected by the chief priests and scribes and be slain and then raised the third day.
6.) Luke 7:11-27 presents Jesus and many of His followers traveling to the city of Nain. When they reached the gate of the city, they saw a dead man being carried out. Jesus was told that the dead man was the only son of a poor widow, and He had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he approached the casket and said, “Arise, young man!” The man who was dead sat up and began to speak, and Jesus delivered him to his mother. Those witnessing the miracle glorified God and spread the news throughout Judea and the regions beyond.
The disciples of John the Baptist reported to him what Jesus had done, and John sent two of them to ask Jesus, “Are you the promised Messiah or do we wait for another?” (apparently, John thought just like Jesus’ other followers … they expected Him to set up His earthly kingdom! They knew nothing about the Church Age that would have to come first) Before answering their question, Jesus healed many in that place who were blind, sick and possessed by demons, and then Jesus said, “Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard today. Blessed is he who is not ashamed of Me.”
After the messengers of John left, Jesus began to tell the people about John and asked them, “When you went out into the wilderness to see John, what did you expect to see … a reed shaken in the wind or a prophet? I tell you that John is more than an ordinary prophet, because he was sent to prepare the people of Israel to receive their Messiah, as foretold by the prophet Malachi!” (Malachi 3:1a)
In conclusion, there are many more questions we could examine, but these six should at least begin to provoke some food for thought. Remember, everything that Jesus said came from one of three sources … His humanity, His deity, or from a combination of the two known in theology as “The Hypo-Static Union. In reading all four gospel accounts regarding the 3-year ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, a profitable mental exercise would be to try to discern from which source Jesus’ statements and His questions are coming and why He stated them.
Written by Lois Delnay
Fallbrook Ranch Productions
04/14/07
loisdelnay@hotmail.com
links to Lois Delnay's Children Bible Study
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