In the gospels, Jesus is often asking questions – of disciples and would-be disciples, of religious leaders, even of Pilate himself.  Usually Jesus’s questions seem to take people by surprise; often they are expecting him to give them advice or reassurance, sometimes they simply want a reason to arrest him.   But Jesus will not simply provide the information they are looking for, the knowledge or evidence which they think they need.  Instead, he encourages and challenges them to reflect a little more about what it is that they really want, from God, or themselves, or each other.  To encounter the divine we need to be honest, and Jesus’s questions so often get to the heart of the other person’s true desires and fears.

If we think about the space around Jesus, we might imagine it as a space of miracles and healing, of prayer, of teaching and preaching.  But it is also a space for questions, not only for asking and answering, but where the disciples are learning just what it means to ask the right questions.  For good questions can create the conditions for honesty and reflection, not only through words but through the listening and attention that they require.  As I read of these conversations I find myself drawn into that space too, hoping that we as a Church can become more fully a space for the questions that truly challenge and inspire, the questions that draw us and each other closer to God.