Message: Jesus was being tested and questioned
from all angles and all sorts of powerful religious people who were coming at
him with an agenda. They brought their trickiest angles in trying to provoke
Jesus to implicate himself by answering questions that would contradict authorities
in both religion and government. They had no idea who they were really dealing
with. Then there was one religious teacher who was listening to it all. He
asked a different question and after a genuine interaction Jesus told him he
was not far from the Kingdom of God.
Command: Ask questions coming from a heart of humility.
Promise: Your humility in the ask will bring
understanding.
Warning: You can ask the right questions with
the wrong motive and learn nothing.
Application: As I processed through this I
realized that our motive and attitude in the things we ask or wonder about has
a direct impact on the answers we receive. There are times I have approached things
with an attitude that I already knew the answer, and there are times I have had
to completely humble myself and consider that all that I think I know may be
wrong. This dramatically changed what I was able to learn. In the story the
religious leaders were trying to trip him up by asking questions that they
thought would have a contradictory answer. Instead, Jesus answered on a level
of wisdom that they didn’t count on and his answers made them look stupid. In
fact Jesus flat out told one of them that the whole basis of his question was
in error. I’ve gone through things in life that I thought I understood. When I
asked God for direction I felt like he was silent. There have also been times
that I took what I thought I knew and set it aside. I cried out to God for a
real answer and was completely blown away by the powerful direction and insight
he gave me. Moments like those I never felt closer to him.
