Question Periods

In one of our poker nights last week, a man said we asked another player a "mean question."  We asked him if he had a nut flush -- then flipped over the real nut flush, which we had.

Was that question "mean?"  Or was it along the lines of something Jesus would do?  Consider this example....

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."  He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."  "I have no husband," she replied.  Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband.  he fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.  What you have just said is quite true." - John 4:15-18

This passage almost reminds us of Chris Hansen catching predators on Dateline NBC, or an undercover police sting.  Jesus apparently knew all about this woman's past -- a past the woman never denied in the following verses, choosing instead to change the subject.  (Whether this proves Jesus was omniscient or the woman was simply "the talk of the town" is not our issue here.)

Yet Jesus made a suggestive leading comment, which cut at the core of the woman's life.  He used this approach at other times as well:

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"  He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. - John 6:5-6

Note the reason for the question -- to test him.  Jesus apparently wanted to see if the disciples would look to Him to feed the crowd, the way He had performed previous miracles.  Our question at the poker table the other night was along the same line.  We wanted to see how far this bluffer would go -- perhaps all the way to lying about the hand he really had.

There's one more question from Jesus we'd like to offer -- and it's actually the most important question of all.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"  They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" - Matthew 16:13-15

Your answer to this question matters -- a lot.  It could determine whether you'll be part of the "first resurrection" mentioned in Revelation 20, or a more general resurrection which comes 1,000 years later.  Who is Jesus to you?

We'll leave this open-ended for now.  If you'd like to know what Jesus considers the correct answer, open a Bible and read on in Matthew 16 through verse 20.  Is His answer your answer as well?