Revealing Questions

One day when my father had "bus duty" at the school where he then served as assistant principal, someone threw some fireworks out a bus window. Dad got on the bus and asked, "Who threw that fire cracker?" To which, one little boy quickly replied, "That wasn't a fire cracker. It was a cherry bomb." Dad then said, "You come with me." The young man who spoke up revealed more than he ever intended.

I think we all do this more than we realize. We will say one thing, but a perceptive listener will glean much more from what we said than we intend. Sometimes people do jump to conclusions, but here I am talking about the fine art of reading between the lines. This can be seen in some of the questions we read in the Bible. For instance...

1. Genesis 4:9 "Am I my brother's keeper?" All God asked Cain was where Able was. This reply by Cain showed a certain amount of defensiveness. Of course, people often become defensive when they are guilty of something. That did turn out to be the case with Cain.

2. John 21:21 "What about this man?" Jesus had just finished confirming Peter's faith by asking him three times if he loved Him. Jesus then signified "by what death he would glorify God" and ended by saying "Follow me" (John 21:19). Peter's response at this point was not a good one. He saw John standing there and asked "But Lord, what about this man?" Jesus answered, "... what is that to you..." (21:23). Here Peter wanted off the "hot seat." He may have even revealed a bit of jealousy and selfishness. The main thing is he was minding other people's business when he should have been dealing with his own problems.

3. Matthew 19:18 "Which ones?" When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he needed to do to have eternal life, Jesus told him to "keep the commandments" (19:17). To which the young man asked "Which ones?" This question is puzzling to me. Did he hope to get by with only obeying a few? I do believe he was sincere in what he asked. Maybe he was making a distinction between the Bible and the man-made laws of the Jews. I hope so. After Jesus specified what commandments, he acknowledged that he had kept these and inquired, "What lack I yet?" (19:20). Of course, Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor and follow Him. The young man then went away sorrowful. Apparently, he had a problem with the command about covetousness. He wasn't willing to give up his great possessions to follow Jesus. It all seems to go back to his question, "Which ones?"

I am not suggesting that we go around trying to read something in to every little thing others say. The point is this. We would do well to ponder the words that come out of our own mouths. Maybe we can learn a little more about what is really in our own hearts.