Questions Jesus Asked

can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, “I am God’s Son”? (John 10:36) This question comes as Jesus was staring down the stones held in the hands of those who wanted Him dead. Their charge was that Jesus was claiming to be the Son of God. Jesus defends Himself by quoting their own scripture where it was said that those to whom the word of God had come were "sons of God." Following that logic, Jesus counters, to say He is the Son of God is not a chargeable offense and certainly not worth death. Jesus asks for them to believe in the works He was doing so that they could see that the Father was in Jesus and Jesus in the Father. What evidence have we given lately that Jesus is in us?

If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? (John 8:46) How frustrating for anyone, even Jesus, not to be believed. You and I have been in that situation, and it angers us to not be believed. Imagine Jesus. Jesus never spoke a lie; all He shared was the Truth. He lived the truth, and the truth was that God loved and wanted everyone to be in relationship with Him. How sad to know that not all people welcomed the Truth, and in fact, some hated Him. Not one word out of His mouth did they believe. And to have Him ask this question is sad to us, but made them laugh. Someone is not laughing now. Let it not be us. We know Jesus. We love Jesus. We trust Jesus. Let His words bring life to us and to those we are around.

Which of you convicts me of sin? (John 8:46) Jesus now asks those who would seek His death, this question: Which of you convicts me of sin? In all their search, did these religious men find any evidence of sin in Our Lord? The obvious answer is no. In fact, the only one in the Bible without sin is Jesus. Yet, their search, their questions, their lies were all geared to make Jesus look guilty and sinful. And they could not find any sin in Him. How I wish that were true of you and me. We are indeed guilty of sin; but He who was without sin, removes our sins whenever we ask. Let us therefore, live as forgiven people of the Lord!

Why do you not understand what I say? (John 8:43) Jesus was right; when we don't accept something, we easily can say we don't understand it. If we're facing someone whom we oppose or dislike, and they say something, we might say we don't understand what they are saying. Jesus' accusers did not like Jesus and wanted Him dead, and didn't try to hide that either. And so as Jesus teaches on God in ways that were contrary to theirs, they said they did not understand what Jesus was talking about. Of course not, Jesus' words were making liars and frauds out of them, so they conveniently did not understand. Seek to love all, and we will understand better.

Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? (John 8:10) A woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus and He was asked what they should do; beginning of course with them quoting Moses' law about stoning her to death. Jesus knew their hearts and the desire of their hearts was to kill this woman. This taking place at the Temple. Jesus bends down to write on the ground, then says, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." And once again, Jesus writes on the ground. One by one, the accusers left, leaving the woman alone with Jesus; this His question: Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? Sometimes the greatest condemnations on us come from us; Jesus calls us to be without sin. And if we are free from sin, we will be free of self-condemnation and the condemnation that easily and freely comes from others. Jesus is there to remove our sin.

Are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath? (John 7:23) Jesus' healing of a man's whole body on a Sabbath angered more people than blessed them. The Law forbid most things on the Sabbath, but they did not understand God's love behind the law. The letter of the law was more important to them. They had the law to follow and they sought that instead of blessing God. Jesus' holy action of restoring a man's body to wholeness made the religious think about murder. What does that say about their hearts? What does that say about our hearts? Do we place higher importance on some things, like tradition, ritual or habit above grace and compassion? Does anger rule our responses to things we don't understand? Lord, help us to see healing and restoration to wholeness as being above what we think. Your will be done.

Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me? (John 7:19) Sometimes we just have to ask the question that is right before us. Some have said, "We have to talk about the elephant in the room;" the elephant being the desire of the crowd of religious men who wanted nothing more than the death of Jesus. This sparked anger, for most evil people will deny their intentions and angrily protest that such a thing could be on their minds. Jesus knew their hearts and the desire of those hearts. It's not much of a life to live wanting someone else to die. Jesus was not about death; He came to bring life, and that in abundance or "to the fullest." (John 10:10) Satan, as Jesus explained, "came to kill, steal, and destroy." Even now, those options are out there for many. It's up to us to show others the way of life.