There are more answers than questions - Rev Les

Mark 8:22 – 10.52 Bible Month 3. ‘There are more answers than questions’ In this section of his Gospel, Mark portrays Jesus with his face set towards Jerusalem. Jesus was on the way to celebrate the Passover and become the sacrificial lamb for the sins of the world, but there was work to do on the journey… healing, driving out demons, teaching his disciples, restoring sight, not to mention Jesus’ transfiguration and the foretelling of His death and resurrection. There is a lot for his disciples to learn and take to their hearts, and very little time to do so. Jesus’ mission continues to be urgent, the disciples learning is slow and Mark is keen to keep up the pace in his telling of that mission as the sense of urgency gathers towards Jerusalem and the cross. There are perhaps less instances of Jesus ‘formally’ teaching his disciples in Mark’s account than in the other Gospel writer’s accounts. I find that the best teachers are those who teach by example, they are role models who ask questions of their students through their words and actions. The disciples have a lot to learn and Jesus, the Word and embodiment of God is well equipped to teach them. I estimate that the New Testament writers, record Jesus as having asked 307 questions, not counting those questions he asked within the parables he told. Many of these questions were aimed at the disciples to aid their learning, some were aimed at the religious leaders and other questions to those he met on the way. I have suggested before that Jesus never asked a question that he didn’t know the answer to. In asking questions he wasn’t soliciting information, rather he was helping people to understand who he is and what he was about. I wonder, how many of those 307 questions Jesus asked you could bring to mind? Which of those questions are the most challenging to you? Mark recorded 58 of Jesus’ questions in his short Gospel. In the short section of just 2.5 chapters I’ve been asked to reflect on today I counted 15 questions that Jesus asked, including: 8:23 “What do you see?” 8:27 “Who do people say I am?” 8:29 “Who do you say that I am?” 8: 36-37 “What good is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” 9:16 “How long shall I stay with you?” “How long shall I put up with you?”9:33 “What were you arguing about on the road?” 9:50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?” 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” 10:36 “What do you want me to do for you?” 10:38 “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?” 10: 51”What do you want me to do for you”? Jesus used these questions as a tool to teach the listener, or in our case the reader. They are not there to inform Jesus they are designed to help the listener, or reader, to reflect and learn. ‘There are more answers than questions’ One commentator described Jesus as the ‘great interrogator’. One thing that all of these questions, which came from the lips of Jesus, has in common, is that they are asked from the perspective of love. There is nothing harsh or sarcastic about them, no note of retaliation and no attempt to mislead or trick or outsmart the listener or make him or her feel small and inadequate. They are in complete contrast to the manner and content of the questions asked by the Scribes and Pharisees, or Andrew Marr, Jo Coburn or from the opposition bench during Prime Minister’s Question time, or the press during a Covid briefing. We can learn a lot about Jesus from the questions he asks and the manner in which he asks them, and in this short section of his Gospel, Mark gives us an average of 1 question in every 6 or 7 verses. He gives them so we might learn more of Jesus and that we might model his actions and love. Let me just reflect on 3 of those questions. First: 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” I invite you to consider that question for yourself. Presuming you believe Jesus to be Good, what has brought you to that conclusion? You might see this question that Jesus asked the rich man as an echo of the question he asked his disciples in 8:29 ie: “Who do you say that I am?” Both of these questions are an invitation to give your personal testimony of Jesus, of how God has changed, enriched, given meaning to your life today. Why do YOU call Jesus Good? What has the God you believe in done for you? Who do you say Jesus is? In 8:22 Jesus gave the blind man sight and in 8:23 Jesus asked him: “What do you see?” That wasn’t a trick question but many people believe it was a question with double intent; having led the man by the hand, feeling the healing hand of Jesus on him, we are told that “…he (the blind man) saw everything clearly” Jesus offers this question, (“Why do you call me good”?) to the Rich Man who came to Jesus with his own question. He asked Jesus, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” It is relevant to note that the rich man asked his question whilst on his knees, so one may see that as a mark of reverence toward Jesus and, as he used the word ‘good’ to describe Jesus, we may also assume that the Rich man was well on the road to believing that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Jesus’ question “Why do you call me good?” is not an attempt to deflect the rich man’s question, it is Jesus’ means of telling the rich man that he already knows the answer. Jesus’ question is a much more meaningful answer to the rich man’s question than his practical instruction later in the passage to give his riches to the poor. The rich man needed to reflect on what Jesus meant to him in comparison to what value he placed upon his riches. It is a question of love’s priorities. Henri Nouwen once said that: “Do you love me” is the most significant question of all time. You might recall that Jesus, famously, asked Peter that question 3 times. So, I ask you; why do you call Jesus Good? What do you see in Jesus? Who do you say Jesus is? Do you love Him? Secondly: let’s look at the question: 10:38 “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?” Jesus asked this question of James and John. Mark tells us that they had both been present, along with Peter, to witness his transfiguration, on a mountain top, in the presence of Moses and Elijah. Peter, James and John had all heard God speak: “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to Him!” Perhaps the brothers were affected by the privilege of being there, maybe they felt entitled, worthy, promoted above the others into an inner, inner circle, ordered not to speak of it until after Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus asked James and John this question (“Can you drink the cup …) to help them reflect on what true service means before offering his answer. The question reminds us that being a follower is a responsibility as well as a privilege, and that both the privilege and responsibility have personal costs attached to them. Very few of these questions stand alone, just as Jesus tells the rich man that he must evaluate his affections, desires and commitments he earlier asks the question: 8: 36-37 “What good is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Perhaps you see these questions about what you value in life as pertinent to you. Many of us have taken the opportunity to re-evaluate our priorities throughout the lockdown. It has become more evident that earthly life is fragile as the daily Covid-related death toll has been announced and as our freedom of movement and social interaction has been limited. What cost or value do you put on your faith in Christ? Are you prepared to take up your cross, drink the cup, receive the baptism?And Finally: 10: 51 “What do you want me to do for you”? You may note that Mark records Jesus asking this question twice within a few verses. First he asked James and John, and a few verses later the second blind man, in this short section, Blind Bartimaeus is asked the same question. It is blatantly obvious what a blind man would want a healer to do for him, Jesus had already restored the sight of a blind man at Bethsaida and Bartimaeus was calling out for help; “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” It’s pretty obvious to those on the scene and more so for Jesus to see that the blind man wanted above all things to see. It is equally obvious to Jesus what James and John wanted Jesus to do for them. If we need evidence of that we have it when Jesus tells the brothers what their destiny in life is that they will indeed drink the same cup as Jesus Himself. Jesus was as aware of their destiny as he was of the desire of their hearts, long before they asked it of Him. “What do you want me to do for you?” is the question most frequently asked by Jesus. In this section of Mark’s gospel Jesus asks it on his way to Jerusalem and the cross. Jesus is always asking: ‘how can I serve you?’ That is a model question for each of us. “Friend, stranger, the person in your church or community whom you don’t understand or relate to or agree with…. How can I serve you? If we are to model Jesus as Mark presents him to us we need to ask that question in the service of Jesus and others. And the question remains for us to ask ourselves; “what do we want Jesus to do for us?”. What do you want Jesus to do for you