They came to Capernaum, When he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?”
Mark 9:33
Have you ever been afraid to ask someone a question because you did not know if it was the right question to ask, or maybe you second guessed yourself because you felt as though you were the only one who did not understand what was being said? In a bid to encourage students to ask questions, one of my elementary school teachers liked to say, “There are no stupid questions. The only stupid questions are those we do not ask.” There are moments in our lives when we are all forced to wrestle with difficult and complex questions. Questions that may sound like this: God, why did my child have to die? God why do good people suffer? God, why are you so silent, why aren’t you answering my cry?
It is important that we ask the right questions as it will save us from getting embroiled in the wrong questions. On the road to Capernaum, Jesus spoke to the disciples saying that he would be killed, but after three days he would rise again. This was the second time Jesus referred to his death and resurrection (See Mark 8:31-32). The disciples did not understand what he meant, but were afraid to ask what he meant? A little while later, Jesus heard them arguing about which one of them was the greatest (vs.34). By failing to ask Jesus the right question, they got tangled up in the wrong question.
It is certain that when Christians fail to ask the right questions, when we fear, doubt or arrogantly assume we have all the answers, when we endlessly pontificate about what it means to be the “greatest Christian,” we often get tangled up in the wrong questions. The results of not asking the right questions are significant and serious for us, for our nations and for the world. If Jesus walked among us today in the midst of all the chaos that surrounds us, he would ask us the same question he posed to those disciples, “What are you arguing about?”
As Jesus hung on the cross, at one of the most difficult moments in his life, he did not pontificate, instead he asked one of the most important questions ever uttered, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” As we go through this difficult time in human history, bearing our crosses daily as we go, it is time to stop pretending or fearing, it is time to ask the right questions. With God, there are no questions that are out of bounds and there are no stupid questions except for those we do not ask. Jesus has the answers. Jesus is the Answer. Amen.