questions: 2nd sunday B 2018

In our gospel today Jesus sensing that he has company turned around asked them a question, what are you looking for?  And the two disciples who were following him, stopped on their tracks by the question, answered by asking another question, Rabbi, where are you staying? 

Questions. Questions can elicit a response.  Sometimes though questions trigger more questions.  Either way questions invite people to participate, it draws people to get involved.

That is why in modern pedagogy we are told not to lecture too much but to facilitate learning by asking questions and by encouraging questions and helping the person discover the answers for himself or herself. 

And so let us try to discover what is being asked by the two questions?

What are you looking for?  This is not a question by someone annoyed at being followed or by somebody who wants to know what you are up to in the same way a salesperson would be interested in what one is looking for in a department store.  No.  This is a big question.  It is an existential question - What are you looking for?  It is asking the person to declare his purpose in life, the directions one wishes to undertake.  It is asking why are you doing what you are doing?  What for? 

If you notice all the while the would-be disciples were behind Jesus following from a distance, observing him from afar.  Yes, they heard things about him, they were curious but undecided, almost there but not yet there.  And so, the question invites the person to make things definite. It is challenging the person to clarify and state his purpose once and for all - what do you really want?  What are you looking for?  Why are you doing what you are doing?

We need to stop once in a while to answer these questions.

Second question.  They were supposed to answer the question of Jesus.  Instead they responded by asking him a question, where are you staying?  This question was asked not because they were interested where Jesus is staying. Not because they want his address, rather it was asked because they were begging for a lengthier interview.  They heard him but they wanted to know more.  John introduced him as the lamb of God but they need to ask him questions, they need to hear who he was, what he will do and why he came.  They needed time to be with him and thus the question, where are you staying? Their question indicate a desire to remain with Jesus, presumably to learn what he has to teach them. They never answer his question about what they are looking for. Instead, they try to figure out how to stay in his presence.

And so it is now our turn to ask questions:  When was the last time I allowed Jesus to ask me what are you looking for?  When was the last time I allowed myself to be stopped by this question so that I can look back and ask myself why do I do what I am doing today?  What for am I doing these things?

When was the last time I got interested in a lengthier interview with the Lord?  When was the last time I begged time to be with the Lord, to ask him who he is, to question what he is doing in my life and to inquire why he came for me.

Questions.  We need to learn to ask questions again.