GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 11:29
Questions
Alice asked me if I wanted pancakes or waffles for breakfast, and I answered, “Yes.” That kind of word game might end up getting one neither pancakes nor waffles. Another word game is to answer a question with another question. It’s possible to imagine a couple standing before the minister, who asks the woman, “Do you take this man to be your husband?” and the woman asks, “Pardon me, Reverend, but can he maintain me the same way my Daddy did?”
That bit of doggerel aside, when Jesus walked through the temple court, the chief priests, scribes, and elders confronted him and asked him by what authority he had driven out all the merchants. “And Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.’” (Mark 11:29) He never felt obligated to answer every question—especially questions put to him by opponents and those trying to find fault with him—so he answered a question with a question.
The challengers hoped to put Jesus in a dilemma. If he said he was acting under his own authority, he might be arrested for insurrection before he damaged their income further. If he said he was acting by divine authority, he might be arrested for blasphemy. Jesus saw clearly the clever trap these high authorities were laying for him, so he threw the dilemma back at them: “I will ask you one question.”
It’s not obligatory to answer every critic or opponent. Oftentimes, the best answer to a hostile question is silence or, “That’s an interesting idea. I’ll have to think about it.” In this instance, for Jesus, it meant answering a question with a question.
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