Tom Burke

July 2024
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I distinctly remember when, as a six year old boy, a friend of my parents asked me the question, “Where did you get those big eyes?” Haltingly, I began trying to explain, using my obviously limited knowledge of human anatomy. This was my first lesson in the difference between questions which
require answers and those commonly referred to as rhetorical questions.

As in life, when we read God’s Word this distinction is important as well.

Matthew 2:1,2  (King James Version)Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

The wise men knew that the Messiah must be born in the vicinity of Judea, but not the exact location. So they asked, “Where is he?”¹

A very different type of question is posed in Romans 6.

 Romans 6:1,2 (King James Version)What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Clearly, the answer to these questions is not up for debate. Rather, Paul is emphatically making the point that, as new creations in Christ, freedom from sin should be considered our “new normal”.² How can one who is dead — in this case, the old man — continue to live?³

Jesus was constantly subjected to questions. It is helpful to note that his responses to those questions varied greatly, in both content and tone.

Matthew 12:10–14 (King James Version)And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

As was so often the case, the questions posed by the religious hierarchy of the day were deceptive — not truly seeking answers, but seeking ways to accuse Jesus of heresy. His answers often spoke not to the question, but to the intent behind it.

On the other hand, genuine questions were met with genuine, caring yet thought-provoking answers.⁴

Mark 10:17–21 (King James Version)And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Jesus’ answer was not a cruel one. We are told that, in response to the question, Jesus loved him. In truth, Jesus loved him enough to recognize that the one thing holding him back from full commitment to God was his wealth.

Even a quick overview of the Gospels will reveal that Jesus asked many questions as well: some rhetorical, some genuinely seeking answers. As their rabbi,⁵ Jesus asked questions of his disciples for a third purpose.

John 6:5,6  (New International Version)When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

If Jesus already knew what he needed to do, why ask? In order to prove (or “test”) Philip. He wanted to see the degree to which Philip had grown in faith and understanding during his tenure as a disciple.⁶

Perhaps Jesus learned this approach from his knowledge of God’s Word and God’s ways. God asks questions too. And, as someone once said, when God asks a question, it’s not because He doesn’t know the answer.

Job 38:1–13 (New International Version)Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone– while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?”

These questions, from God to Job, continue for the next several chapters. Why did God ask them? Did God not know the answers? Was He soliciting Job’s wisdom? No. These questions were asked to evoke a response on Job’s part.

They did evoke a response, and thankfully it was the response that God sought.

Job 42:1–6  (New International Version)Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Similarly, immediately after Adam’s disobedience, God asked, “Where are you?”,⁷ not because God did not know, but in order to drive home Adam’s current state and the severity of the sin that caused it.⁸

God still asks questions of us today.

Romans 8:31–35  (King James Version)What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

He already knows the answers to these questions. It is how I respond to them that makes all the difference.