Teaching with questions

In the Gospel reading for Sunday, Jesus asks the disciples two questions:

"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
"Who do you say that I am?"


As a teacher, Jesus uses various methods to help his students understand. Sometimes he gives talks, like the Sermon on the Mount. These talks usually contain pithy sayings that people in an oral culture would be able to retain and repeat easily.

Sometimes he tells stories (parables) which elicit a wide variety of responses in the listeners. The parables are designed to "tease the mind into thought", as C. H. Dodd famously said.

But in this passage, Jesus is using a third teaching method, the use of questions. First he asks them" Who do people say that I am?" This is simply a matter of reporting. All the disciples have to do is report what they've heard. It doesn't take any reflection or thought on their part.

Then Jesus asks, "But who do you say I am?" This question is much harder. Jesus isn't asking them to repeat the common understanding. He's asking them to reach down inside themselves and come up with their own answer. "Who do YOU say that I am?"

The first question doesn't require much on the part of the disciples, but the second question will lead to transformation if they really try to answer it. When we really seek to know who Jesus is for ourselves, we open ourselves to be transformed.

Most of us have a jumble of ideas who Jesus is, ideas that come from our parents, past teachers, cultural stereotypes, etc. All of those may be good. But only when we decide for ourselves and come up with our own answer will we really answer the second question.
-