Questions (Mark 12:35-37)

Jesus used questions like a key to unlock understanding. He asked His disciples “‘Who do people say that I am?’ They answered Him, ‘John the Baptist; others, Elijah, still others, one of the prophets’” (Mark 8:27,28). However, everything changed when He asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered for all of them when he said, “You are the Messiah!” From that point on, Jesus began to take them deeper into the mystery of what it meant to be the Messiah.

The unveiling of this mystery led to the last week of Jesus' life and the feast of Passover. Here there were more questions; not only the ones asked by Jesus, but by those who opposed Him. The religious leaders felt threatened by Jesus, so they used their questions to try to trap Him. “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You authority to do these things” (Mark 11:28)? Jesus recognized that this question was a trap. Jesus told them that He would answer their question if they would answer His question about John the Baptist. John the Baptist had accused the Pharisees and scribes of being hypocrites and whitewashed tombs. Jesus asked if his baptism was from heaven or men. Because they were afraid of the crowd, who believed John to be a genuine prophet, they said that they didn’t know. Jesus responded by declining to tell them by what authority He did what He did.

The Pharisees and Herodians came together to ensnare Jesus with their question about taxes, saying that they knew that Jesus was truthful and deferred to no one. Jesus answered their question with a question that exposed both their hypocrisy and their greed. The Sadducees, who didn’t believe in a resurrection, brought a question that mocked those who did believe in a resurrection. Jesus’ question to these sophisticated educated men was, “Are you not deceived because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God?” The last one to question Jesus was one of the scribes. As an expert in the law he asked Jesus which law was the greatest. The answer Jesus gave filled him with awe. “After this no one dared to question Him any longer” (Mark 12:34).

But that wasn’t the end of the questions. Jesus asked one more question that, again, was like a key to unlock the mystery of the Messiah. “So Jesus asked this question as He taught in the temple complex, ‘How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the Son of David? David himself says by the Holy Spirit: The Lord declared to my Lord “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.” David himself calls Him “Lord”; how then can the Messiah be his Son’” (Mark 12:35-37)?

They had been gazing through a blurry window trying to understand who the Messiah would be. Jesus used questions like a key to open the door. The Messiah was far greater than they had understood, not only was He the son of David, He was also the Son of God. Later that week He would show them that the Messiah had not only come to break the yoke of physical oppression but of spiritual oppression as well. It was during this Passover week that Jesus fulfilled the words of John the Baptist when he had proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” by Himself becoming the Passover Lamb.

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