Recently I have written on this blog several articles (here and here and here and here) about the power of questions in discipleship and evangelism. My scripture reading today was in Luke 2 and 3. Luke 2 contains the story about Jesus being left behind in Jerusalem as his family heads home after the Passover. When they found him, he was in the temple. Luke 2:46 says:
Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.
Now I had always assumed that passage was saying that as a young boy Jesus was asking the religious leaders spiritual questions because he wanted to grow in his knowledge of the Lord. But the next verse adds an interesting detail:
And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.
So Jesus was listening and asking questions. But he was doing something else. He was providing answers. Evidently he was asking questions that the religious leaders could not answer on their own. He was listening to them, but evidently not in order to learn from them. As a 12 year old, he was the one with the understanding and the answers. He wasn’t asking questions and listening in order to learn. He was asking questions and listening in order to teach. Even as a 12 year old, Jesus was the Master Teacher!