Questions We're Afraid To Ask Jesus

Luke 9:44-45
“Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

As I reflected on these verses this morning, I found myself wondering why the disciples were afraid to ask Jesus to clarify himself.

At first, I remembered those feelings when you're in class and feeling a bit dense. You don't want to admit in front of other students that you don't get it. But this explanation fell short for me, because it appears that all of the disciples were in the dark. When everyone is confused, usually someone will screw up the courage to ask the question on everyone's lips.

And then the thought struck me. "Maybe they were afraid to ask because they didn't really want to know the answer." A wave of understanding began to roll over me, and I began to commiserate with the disciples in a new way. Jesus has said many things that I don't want him to clarify, either.

A Pharisee once made the mistake of asking Jesus a clarifying question. "And who is my neighbor?" Ouch. Ouch precisely because that Pharisee had not really wanted to know the answer. He was just looking for an easy out. By the time Jesus was done, the easy out was nowhere in sight and the Pharisee was answering an uncomfortable question he clearly wished Jesus had left unasked.

So Yes, asking Jesus clarifying questions is dangerous business indeed. I am reminded of these words:

Mark 12:34b
And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

But here's the funny thing—that verse from Mark? It concludes a passage recounting how Jesus had responded to a series of questions. Most were asked by his enemies, but the last question came from a teacher of the law who clearly respected Jesus. Jesus clearly liked the teacher's question. The teacher in turn clearly liked Jesus' answer. Jesus responded to that appreciation with the assertion that the man was not far from the Kingdom of God.

This leads me to the uncomfortable hypothesis that it is those most like Jesus and those who most want to be like Jesus that are least afraid to ask Jesus clarifying questions. Because they are already on the road to becoming the person who would like the answer that Jesus will give.

Returning to our disciples in that passage in Luke, it's worth noting that Jesus had been perfectly candid with his disciples on this topic. Quite recently.

Luke 9:21-24
Jesus ... said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

Yeah, that's not exactly vague or misleading information. Jesus explained to his disciples that he was going to die, and that his followers (if they intended to follow) would need to pick up crosses and follow him to his own execution. Who can blame the disciples for not wanting any more information about that? After all, they themselves were Jesus' most intimate followers. But who they were following? And where he was leading? Those are questions they very much didn't want clarified.

The disciples did believe that they were following the Messiah. That much Peter had just explained in the prior verse. But what kind of a Messiah? Well, there our accounts diverge a wee bit. Jesus had one answer. The disciples had another. And it's clear that the disciples didn't want to bridge the gap in understanding. Right after Jesus reminded his disciples that of his impending doom, look at how the disciples responded! They respond (as we have noted already) first with confusion, and then with silence. And then?

Luke 9:46
An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.

Ah, ignorance is bliss. Let's gloss over what Jesus just said and get back to the important question. When Jesus whups on the Romans, which of us will be his favorite commanding general?

But enough on the disciples. They got their answers. Much later, but they got them. And in the end, they earned their well-deserved prizes. Those disciples did go on to carry crosses. Most of them died as martyrs, just as Jesus had said they would. No, now is not the time to fault the disciples. Now is the time to ask myself two very uncomfortable question.

What questions have I myself been holding back from Jesus. And why?

Sad fact is, I know which questions I'm avoiding. And I know that I'm avoiding them precisely because I'm pretty sure I already know the answers. Let's look have a look at one.

Do I really have to love my enemies? Jesus answered that one already. Factually speaking, I know the answer. The problem is that I don't like the answer. And here I should learn a lesson from that Pharisee. One dodge I should not attempt is this: "And who is my enemy?" Thanks to that foot-in-mouth Pharisee, I already know. My enemy might be my neighbor. And he's certainly that very person in my mind. The one I don't want to love today.

There are, of course, many other questions like the above example. Questions that we as followers of Jesus don't really want to see clarified a whole lot. Some are general. Do I need to do anything about hungry children in Africa? Some are specific to today. Do I need to give time to this individual whom I find annoying?

The questions that most trouble us will vary from person to person, but they seem always to center around crosses we'd rather not bear. Those questions that confound us most are the ones we most want to remain confounding. We struggle with them not because they are so difficult to answer. We struggle with them because the answers are so difficult.