From the Bishop

The Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher, 9th Bishop of Western Massachusetts

This issue of ABUNDANT Times features the wonderful ministry we have here in Western Massachusetts called Loving the Questions. You know who else loves questions? Jesus. Consider this: in the four gospels Jesus asks 307 questions. Others ask Jesus 183 questions. Out of those 183, he only answers three directly. (source: Jesus is the Question by Martin

I think Jesus asks so many questions because he doesn’t want us to just observe faith. He wants us to engage faith. Our Church follows this path by making the Baptismal Covenant a series of questions. Three asking us what we believe and six asking us what we will do about what we believe.

I have a question for you. What are your favorite questions from Jesus in the Gospels? Which ones engage your soul so much that you can recall them right now without looking at the Bible? What are the questions that stayed with you?

If you want to stop reading this column and just reflect on that, great. My job is done. If you want to keep on reading, here are the ones that jumped out at me.

Of course, one of them comes from my favorite Bible story - the Feeding of the 5000. The accounts all slightly differ in wording. Matthew tells the story twice, one about Feeding the 5,000 and then quickly followed by Feeding the 4000 (showing that even in the days of Jesus, average congregational attendance was in decline). In the Feeding of the 4000, after a day of preaching in a deserted place, Jesus knows the people are hungry and wants to feed them. The disciples ask one of those 183 questions directed at Jesus: “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” Jesus answers with another question “how many loaves do you have?” They answer “seven and a few fish.” Jesus takes that, thanks God, breaks it, gives it away, God multiplies the grace and all are fed.

That question of Jesus speaks to me because he asks for what we have and not for what we don’t have. And that will be enough. Many times in the past couple of years I have shared with you a prayer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that includes “in these days of emotional tension, when the problems of the world are gigantic in extent and chaotic in detail…” How do we respond to these problems? We start with what we have.

And yet God’s grace goes way, way beyond me. That brings me to another question of Jesus that stays with me. It is in Luke 15 when he tells the story of a shepherd and 100 sheep. “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness, and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?”

The crowd listening that day to Jesus would have responded, “None of us, Jesus! Leave the 99 in the wilderness? Not in a barn. Not in a stable. In the wilderness? Think wolves, Jesus! None of us would do that.”

But God would. Because God’s compassion goes beyond my limited understanding of grace.

That goes to two more questions of Jesus lodged in my soul. One is from the powerful Good Samaritan story which is Jesus’ answer to a lawyer who asks “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells the story of the man beaten and lying on the side of the road.

A priest and a Levite pass him by. A Samaritan stops, cares for him and then assures the man receives continuing care. At the end of the story, Jesus asks the question: “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” That is how the question has been translated into English from the original Greek. But I have been told that a better translation is, “Who became a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” How am I becoming a neighbor to those in need?”

And lastly, this question. On the first Easter Sunday, according to John’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb to anoint the body of her beloved Jesus. The body is not there and she is frantic. She cries. Angels ask her, “Why are you weeping?” The Risen Jesus, whom Mary thinks is the gardener asks, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”

This question stays with me because it shows that Resurrection begins with compassion. Compassion is at the heart of resurrected life—for Jesus and for all of us.

Your turn. What questions from Jesus engage your soul? ♦