John 1:35-38
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
Mark 10:46-52
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
The Healing at the Pool
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Mark 6:1-6
Jesus in His Hometown
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Romans 10:9
Confessing With Our Mouths
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Jesus asks many questions throughout the four gospels...He responds and answers many times to other people questions with questions of His Own...Questions can be very important...And Jesus never asked frivolous questions...Sometimes His question or questions take us right to the heart of an issue...Questions can help us when we meet people for the first time...We start a conversation and learn things about each other with questions...And since Jesus is the Great Man of Faith, many of His questions are rooted in faith...His questions not only were for the ones He was having conversations with, but they also they got the attention of not only the ones He was questioning, but also to those crowds following Him...We learn from His questions...And when a question is ask there is an answer that must come and be confessed with our mouths...He teaches us that questioning can be a good thing...Why would He ask so many in His teachings?...He knows the answers to His questions and to all questions...
Jesus asks two disciples of John the Baptist who started following Him, “What do you want?”...That is a very good question...In His question did it mean, what do you want from life, or do you have questions for Me, or what can I do for you?, or many other questions come to mind...Jesus was this way with His questions...His questions help bring closer those He questioned, after they thought about and stated their answer...His questions help bridge His knowledge and ours...His questions many times are deep and probing...
Jesus ask these questions to two people who were sick and needed a physician and a healing, “What do you want me to do for you?” and “Do you want to get well?”...When Jesus asks these two men these questions, He wanted to bring their illness to their minds and into their focus...Questions can help us sometimes see the situation better...Had these two men answered Jesus question like I can wait until you are not busy, or I can wait on being healed -Jesus may have not have helped them...Jesus wanted them to have faith and focus their attention on their problems...He needed to know if they wanted to be healed...It is very difficult to help someone, who does not want to be helped...
It seems it takes some faith to be healed...It seems it takes some faith to do miracles...It also takes faith to follow Him...When we read about Jesus in His hometown, we see that He did not or could not do much healing there and He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them...There was not much faith in His hometown in Him...And Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith for Him in His hometown...
And in answering questions we hear ourselves, and this may help us...Some things cannot be thought out and thought through to get fixed or make us feel better...Some issues and problems need to be talked out aloud or wrote down instead of being just thought through...Questions, especially Jesus' questions, help us learn, focus on what was ask, and allows others to be more on the same page as the one being ask...Many of Jesus' questions are so simple, yet so amazing...By studying the questions that Jesus ask and thinking about them and how we would answer them helps us learn more about not only Him but also about ourselves...