It seems that as soon as a youngster is able to put a couple of words together in an intelligible way, the combo of words becomes a question. Ask any parent of a toddler and they will tell you they are assaulted with questions all day long.
Questions are one of the ways we learn and make sense of our lives. They also provide the probing and pushing we need to go deeper.
Before the age of technology, my elementary teachers spent the hour before school writing questions on the chalkboard. It was my job as a student to spend most of the rest of the day discovering the answers to those questions. The questions were my fodder for the day's journey through social studies, math, science and reading.
Socrates used question after question to push his students deeper and deeper into thought. Rabbis questioned their students to push them to clarify their arguments. Lawyers use questions to lead their witnesses to a certain conclusion. Parents use questions to often help their children see the obvious.
Jesus asked questions. Sometimes they were rhetorical. Sometimes they asked for deeper commitment. Sometimes they pushed for a choice.
One could read Jesus' questions as a spectator, waiting for others to answer, or as one actively engaged with Jesus. This is my challenge in this blog. To take 100 questions Jesus asked and try to answer them honestly. I'm not sure where this will lead, but I hope to be truthful, even when the question stumps me or points out my doubts or weaknesses.
I hope you'll join me.
Who knows what we will learn in this classroom?
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