Day 18

 

Jesus Asks a Question

 

When Jesus came to the region of Caeserea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

 

Matthew 16:13

 

 

I was a long haired college student and going home through the traffic and the construction that was always around the freeway. I, along with the cars in front of me and the cars behind me, turned out of the second lane under the freeway overpass. Shortly after that turn a policeman pulled me over and informed me I had made an illegal turn and asked for my driver's license.

 

I was immediately mad. I knew, that of all the cars that had made that same turn that I had, the policeman had singled me out because I was young and had long hair. I gave the policeman my license and he looked at it and asked, "How old are you son?"

 

I was mad before but then I became furious. How old I was didn't have anything to do with it. The policeman would never had asked my dad how old he was. I was obviously old enough to have a license since he had it in his hand. It was simply age discrimination.

 

I told the policeman, "My date of birth is on the license; figure it out if you can!"

 

Do you want to guess who got a ticket?

 

Now Jesus was in the car with me and he asked me, "Why did you get so mad at that policeman?"

 

I said, "Jesus, that wasn't fair. I just got a ticket because I have long hair!"

 

Jesus asked me again, "Why did you get so mad at that policeman?"

 

I stopped and thought and then said, "Because I have trouble with authority figures and I don't like people telling me what to do."

 

Jesus said, "Now we are getting somewhere."

 

Have you ever wondered why Jesus asks questions? Think about it. Jesus already knows the answer to the question and he knows what your answer will be. Since he already knows it all, why does he ask?

 

He asks for our benefit. It may be that Jesus wants to point out that we don't know as much as we think we do. Jesus also might want to teach us something about the real answer. Look at the questions Jesus asked in the Bible. All of his questions are used to teach his followers something they need to know.

 

When Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people think I am?" and "Who do you think I am?" it wasn't for his own benefit. Jesus knew who he was. It was important that they knew who he was.

 

So what kind of question is Jesus asking you? The answer will be important.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Matthew 16:13-20

 

• What two questions does Jesus ask his disciples?
• What is it that Jesus wants his disciples to know when he asks these questions?
• Where did Jesus say that Peter's answer came from?